


The Grimm Cousins

by PuppyLuv230



Category: Dictatorial Grimoire (Anime)
Genre: F/M, From the manga, I'm Bad At Tagging, Neither knew the other existed beforehand, Otogi has a cousin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-03-03 03:51:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 23,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13332900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuppyLuv230/pseuds/PuppyLuv230
Summary: After the disappearance of his father and uncle, the original Grimm brothers, Otogi receives a mysterious letter from someone traveling to Japan from America. The next day, the author of the letter shows up at his school and claims to be his cousin. Who is this girl, and what secrets is she keeping from him? OCXCinderella pairing in later chapters. WARNING: Spoilers.





	1. Märchen I: The Letter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Dictatorial Grimoire.

It was another normal day in the Grimm household.

Well, as normal as it can get with a clean-freak of a body guard, a hybrid donkey/dog/cat/rooster, a poison-obsessed narcissist, an eyepatch wearing sharpshooter, a clingy girl afraid of heights, and a magical-book-wielding boy all living under the same roof. That's not counting a male genius and a female black belt in judo coming to visit them almost every day after school.

"Get your stupid snakes out of here!" Sorimachi shouted as one of Snow White's cobras came within striking range of him on the floor, making him jump up onto the nearest chair in the dining room to avoid its venomous fangs.

Snow White chuckled. "I could," he said from where he sat in a chair next to the raven-haired boy, adjusting his glasses, "but where's the fun in that?"

Sorimachi and Snow started arguing after that, Hiyori trying to break it up, but Otogi tuned them out as he sat at a nearby table and worked on his English homework- his most hated school subject of all. His mind wandered to all that had happened, though, instead of getting the work done.

It had been a month since his father/ancestor, Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm, and uncle/ancestor, Wilhelm Carl Grimm, disappeared. Everything seemed to be better for him now, though Nekota, Puss in Boots, kept bothering him every once in a while.

"There's a letter here for you, Domine," Cinderella said, having retrieved the mail, handing the blond boy an envelope from the top of the small stack in his hands.

Otogi looked at it, glad for the distraction from his homework and curious about who sent it. As he examined the envelope, he noticed that the handwriting was a little sloppy and the return address was smudged to the point where it was impossible to read.

"Who's it from?" Rapunzel asked, draping her arms around Otogi's neck and gaining immediate attention from Hiyori, who had shoulder thrown both Sorimachi and Snow to make them stop their bickering.

"I don't know," Otogi said as he opened the envelope and pulled out a letter. It was typed out, unlike the envelope, and dated for about six days ago.

'Dear Otogi Grimm,

It has come to my attention that your father has left a mansion in Japan to you. Last week, I received an anonymous letter stating that it might be a good idea for me and my mother to travel to Japan so we can live with you. I apologize for the delay on this letter, but all that time my mother and I were debating if this was a wise choice.

I write to you now because something has come up that makes it nearly impossible for us to stay where we are, especially with the ill condition my mother is in. We will leave our current home in the United States about six days from now and plan on arriving early the next morning, and I pray you receive this letter long before then. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you and whoever is living with you, but there is a slight chance we may arrive late due to my mother's failing health.

I was assured you would be happy to have our company, and I hope that is true. I have wanted to meet you ever since I first learned about you. I hope to see you soon, Otogi-san.

AWG'

"'AWG'?" Red Riding Hood asked, peering over Otogi's shoulder to read the letter. "Who's that?"

The blond boy shrugged. "I guess we'll find out tomorrow."

()()()()

"Has that person who sent the letter come to your house yet?" Hiyori asked as she and Sorimachi stood gathered around Otogi's desk next to the boy.

Otogi shook his head. "Not yet."

"They still might be on their way here," Sorimachi said, placing his hands on the back of his head coolly as he leaned back in his chair. "It was likely a delayed flight or something."

Soon, much to Otogi's displeasure, class began. But today felt different to him. Almost like he could tell something was coming.

"Alright, class," the biology teacher began. "It seems we have a new student today who transferred all the way from America. Please welcome her like you would any other new student." He gestured to a girl who slowly entered the room and stood at the front with her arms clasped behind her back.

She was clearly not of Japanese origin, considering her lighter-colored skin, though it was obviously tanned from many hours of being in the sun. She wore one of the school's uniforms, but it seemed to be a size too big on her petite frame. Her hair, a lighter shade of brown than Hiyori's, was pulled back into a ponytail that flowed in natural waves down to the curve of the small of her back, her bangs held in a flip on one side of her face that reached down to her chin and seemed to threaten to fall into her almost unnaturally golden eyes.

She smiled, and her eyes seemed to flash with untapped energy as she did so. "My name's Amelia Wiesel. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

She spoke in an almost perfect Japanese accent, only a small bit of her American heritage breaking through. Her voice was soft but energetic, giving a lively feel to her words and not at all the shy tone most new students have.

The teacher nodded. "Alright, Amelia-san. Please have a seat behind Otogi-kun."

Said blond flinched as that was said, unsure of how to take the sudden presence of the new student. Amelia nodded and swiftly moved to her seat. As class began and the teacher became distracted with his work, she tapped Otogi's shoulder, causing him to turn to face her.

"Um…I was wondering if you'd show me around the school, or at least find a time when we could talk."

Otogi nodded, slightly surprised at how shy she now sounded compared to how confident she'd been just a few seconds ago. "Sure. We can talk durin' lunch, when my friends join us."

She smiled gratefully. "That would be great. Thanks."

The sound of someone clearing their throat was heard, and both Amelia and Otogi looked up to see their teacher staring at them.

"Is there something you'd like to share with the class?" he asked.

The two shook their heads rapidly, sitting at full attention now.

The teacher huffed. "Good. Now both of you, pay attention."

()()()()

"So you've never been to Japan before?" Sorimachi asked as he, Otogi, Hiyori, and Amelia sat on the roof of the building during lunch.

Amelia shook her head.

"Then how are you able to speak Japanese so well?" Hiyori asked, taking a bite out of her lunch.

Amelia blushed lightly. "Well, you see, I kinda always wanted to come to Japan ever since I was little, so I started studying the language as soon as I could."

"Huh," Otogi murmured to himself.

"Um…" Amelia began, turning to said blond. "You're name's Otogi, right? Otogi Grimm?" She emphasized the 'Grimm' part. At the boy's nod, she said, "I guess you're the one I'm supposed to talk to, then."

"What do yah mean?" Otogi asked, confused as to what the girl was trying to say.

She smiled and stood up, clasping her hands behind her back, which seemed to be a bit of habit for her, and stood so she faced the other three a few feet away.

"Did you receive a letter initialed at the bottom with the letters AWG?" she questioned.

Otogi nodded, obviously shocked. 'How does she know about the letter?'

Amelia's smile widened. "I was the one who wrote that letter. My full name is Amelia Wiesel Grimm, and I'm your cousin."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I've decided to write a fanfiction containing an OC of mine that I created just after I read the complete collection for this manga. This is what might happen if Otogi wasn't the only descendant of the Grimm brothers.
> 
> I'm sorry if the characters aren't like how they are in the manga. I am trying to make it so they don't go off the original story too much, but I can't guarantee I'll do a good job.


	2. Märchen II: Meeting a Fairytale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Dictatorial Grimoire.
> 
> Warning: this chapter and many of the next ones contain spoilers for the manga if you haven't already read it.

The group jumped to their feet at that. Otogi was shocked at this sudden confession from the girl. 'Cousin?!' he shouted in his head. 'I didn't even know I had a cousin!'

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke. "How are you my cousin? And why didn't you come over to my house to tell me this? I thought you said you were goin' to arrive early this mornin'."

Amelia became flustered at that. "I-I'm so sorry! I was planning to, but my mother had to be rushed to the local hospital because she started having…problems once the plane landed. I had to be transported with her so I could give the doctors her health information so they could treat her, and I only had an hour left to get ready for school after that. And on the topic of being your cousin, our fathers are brothers, but that's all I know."

'Our fathers are…!' That statement took the blond by shock. 'She couldn't be… No, it's not possible! He's not much older than… But he has been around for at least two hundred years, from what Cinderella told me. It could be possible. But why is she here now?'

"Hey, Grimm!" a male voice shouted behind Amelia, drawing the group's attention.

The girl turned to see a raven-haired boy, about seventeen years old, wearing a high school uniform walking towards them. A collar with an apple-shaped buckle was wrapped around his neck and a pair of thinly-rimmed glasses covered his deep crimson eyes. There was something very familiar about this boy, though she couldn't quite tell what.

"I was wondering if…" The older raven started before noticing the girl's presence. He smiled and opened his mouth to say something to her.

"Don't start on her," Otogi said, obviously annoyed. "What was it that you needed?"

The older male blinked almost dumbly before saying, "Huh, I guess I forgot. Oh well, couldn't be important if I don't remember."

He then turned to Amelia and lowered his glasses slightly as if inspecting her face. "Heh, you're almost as beautiful as me."

'Narcissistic, much?' she thought, not fully objecting to his self-proclamation. He was good-looking, that was for sure. But there was something about him that kept nagging at her. It almost felt like she knew him somehow.

"Do I know you?" she asked. "You seem so familiar. Have we ever met before?"

The boy smiled charmingly at her. "I don't think so. I'd be able to remember a pretty face like yours if we had. But you've probably heard about me, if you like reading fairytales."

"What do you mean by that?" the girl questioned, clearly confused.

"He means exactly what he says," Sorimachi replied.

Amelia stared at Sorimachi like he was crazy, but then began thinking about what the older raven said. 'I've heard about him from a fairytale. Is that what he means? It's not possible, though, because every fairytale I've read is hundreds of years old, and he's only about seventeen.'

She looked over at him, studying his appearance carefully. 'But, now that I think about it, he does look an awful lot like one of the characters from one of my favorite stories. Besides the apple on the collar around his neck, he has hair as black as night, lips as red as blood, skin as white as snow-'

Her thoughts abruptly stopped at that part, and her eyes widened. "Th-there's no way that's possible! You can't be…!"

"Do you know who I am?" the older male asked, his smile slowly turning into a smirk of amusement.

"Please tell me he's joking," Amelia said, turning to Otogi. "Please tell me he's not Snow White."

"I couldn't believe it either, but he is," Hiyori said, justifying the older male's identity.

"Thanks, Amazon," Snow said and looked at her as Amelia gaped at him.

Hiyori huffed. "My name's not Amazon! It's Hiyori Hatsushiba!"

"H-how is this even possible?!" Amelia stuttered after a moment, having a difficult time accepting that this male in front of her was Snow White.

"We'll talk about that once yer settled in at my house," the blond boy said, trying to calm his alleged cousin.

"Settled in?" Snow asked, eyeing the girl suspiciously.

"Yeah," Sorimachi began to explain. "She was the one who sent the letter Gririri got yesterday, and she's claiming to be his cousin."

Amelia nodded. "From what I know, our fathers are brothers, so that makes me Otogi-kun's cousin," she said, ignoring Otogi's complaining on how he didn't want to be called Gririri.

"So what's your name, then? And how old are you?" Snow couldn't help but ask.

"I-I'm Amelia. Amelia Wiesel Grimm. And I'm fourteen years old."

Snow smirked. 'So there's a second descendant of Grimm, now,' he thought. 'This should be interesting.'

()()()()

"Which room's the one my mother can be found in? Her name's Elena Grimm," Amelia questioned one of the nurses behind the desk in the lobby of the hospital.

He looked up at her and smiled. "Oh, right. You're the girl that came in with her from the airport this morning. She's on the third floor, room 310, and your luggage is in the room with her."

"Thank you," the girl replied as she, Otogi, Hiyori, Sorimachi, and Snow, who all had followed her after school, walked through the hospital to the elevators.

"So, why is your mother in the hospital, anyway?" Hiyori asked, saying what was on everyone's minds at the moment.

Otogi nodded. "Yeah. All you said in the letter was that your mother was ill. You didn't explain why."

Amelia hesitated. "Well… My mother was diagnosed with a rare disorder that occurred after I was born. The doctors said there were some complications in her pregnancy when she went into labor with me, and that's what caused it. I don't even know what the disorder is called or what it does. All I know is that it's getting worse and everything the doctors try doesn't work."

Soon, the five arrived at room 310, and they all stepped inside, closing the door behind them. The room was like any hospital room. One bed, white walls, white tile flooring, white everything except for the machines. Honestly, in Amelia's opinion, there was too much white.

The bed was occupied by a woman, sitting up with her back pressed against the headboard and reading a book. The sound of her heartbeats from the heart monitor filled the room, creating an almost calming atmosphere from how steady it was. Her hair was about the same shade as Hiyori's, and was hanging freely down to her shoulders in frizzy waves. Hearing the sound of the door close, she looked up at the group, revealing golden eyes very similar to Amelia's. She smiled, despite the breathing mask covering her mouth, and set her book on the side table by the bed.

"Hi, honey," she said as Amelia walked up to her and hugged her, trying to avoid the IVs in the woman's arms. "How was your first day at school?"

"It was good, Mom," the girl replied, sitting down in a nearby chair and holding her mother's hand. "I made some new friends today."

The woman smiled, and then noticed the group behind her daughter. "Who are those people, sweetie?" she asked.

Amelia smiled. "They're friends from school, Mom."

"It's nice to meet you, um…" Otogi said, unsure of what to call her.

"You can call me Elena," she replied, noticing his reluctance to try and guess a name to identify her by.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Elena-san," Sorimachi said. "My name is Sorimachi Yuma. The trio behind me are Hiyori Hatsushiba…"

Hiyori smiled and gave a small wave.

"…Otogi Grimm…"

The blond bowed, figuring he should show respect to her, even if she wasn't really his aunt.

"…and Snow."

"Snow's just a nickname of mine," the older raven said, crossing his arms and leaning against the nearest wall, not planning on telling her his full name.

"It's nice to meet you all," Elena replied, smiling at them. "I just hope my daughter hasn't caused you any trouble yet."

"Mom," the girl groaned, embarrassed at the statement.

"Anyway," she turned to the blond, "you're name's Otogi, right?"

"Yeah," he replied, wondering where this was going.

"Is he the Otogi who was said to be your cousin in the letter we received, Amelia? The letter that said you need to-"

"Yes, Mom," said girl cut her off quickly. "He is, and don't worry about what the letter said I need to do. I'll take care of that when the time comes. For now, I just need to pick up my stuff so I can get settled in at Otogi-kun's mansion."

"Alright, sweetheart. I'll see you soon."

"I'll come back to visit longer after school tomorrow," the girl promised, picking up her suitcases and following the others out of the room.

As the group walked, Snow slowed his pace until he was matching Amelia's and said in a low voice that only she could hear, "You really love your mother, don't you?"

She nodded. "She was the one who cared for me due to my father never being around. It's only fair that I return the favor since her health isn't the best anymore."

A moment of silence passed before he spoke again. "Do you blame yourself for your mother's current condition of health?"

She hesitated on that question, but then nodded again. "My mother doesn't blame me, though. She's always telling me this was unavoidable, but I keep thinking that if her pregnancy with me had gone better, if there hadn't been any complications, this might not have happened. Why are you asking?"

"I just wanted to see if your mother was like mine."

"What do you mean?" Amelia asked.

He remained silent for a while, and then sighed. "You'll find out sooner or later, considering you're a Grimm. You know in the fairytale of Snow White, she dies from a poisoned apple because her stepmother's jealous, right?"

The girl nodded.

"It was the same for me. She hated me the same way. Except she was my real mother, not my stepmother. Apparently she thought she lost her looks after giving birth to me. She would say, "Ugly! You're just so ugly! Like a lizard!" She would stand me in front of a mirror and tell me that every day, and I eventually started to see it, too. And apparently she poisoned me a little at a time every day to try to kill me."

He removed his glasses. "I don't really need these to see," he said, pulling out a handheld mirror and opening it to show some sort of lizard-thing as his reflection instead of how he actually looked. "The glasses are what prevent me from seeing this. I know it's not my real reflection now, thanks to Grimm and Amazon's idea to help me see the real me. But I'm cursed to see this creature if I look directly at a mirror."

"So the glasses negate the effect," she realized. She was silent for a few moments, thinking. "Are there others like you? Other fairytale characters come to life, with their own stories that are different from the written ones?"

Snow nodded. "You'll get to meet some of them soon."

Amelia didn't say anything after that. Her mind traveled to wondering what kind of life she had just walked into by coming to Japan.


	3. Märchen III: Märchen Demons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Dictatorial Grimoire.

"I can help you with your English," Amelia said to Otogi as the group made it to the front door of the mansion. They were just finishing a discussion on how to help each other with school subjects they weren't good at as the blond opened the door and let Amelia, who was having a bit of trouble carrying her bags, inside the building.

"Welcome home, Gr-" a man with long silver hair that nearly reached the floor and smoky grey eyes began, only to be cut off as he noticed the lanky, brown-haired and golden-eyed girl in front of him, wearing a school uniform and carrying suitcases that looked to be a little too heavy for her.

The girl looked up and stared stunned at the man before her, their eyes echoing a look of surprise and shock. He was wearing a purple overcoat and some sort of armor over his pant legs. A sword with silver detailing around the hilt was sheathed at his belt, and a silver eagle broach with a sapphire stone hanging under it was pinned to a blue kerchief around his neck, letting it dangle over a black shirt with purple hemming.

Neither noticed the group behind Amelia or the rest of the residents of the house enter the room until Sorimachi slung an arm around the girl's shoulders, causing her to flinch and snap out of her reverie, immediately moving away from his touch.

"S-sorry. I didn't mean to stare," she apologized to the silver-haired man and bowed in respect, setting down her bags. She soon noticed that his shoes were made of glass.

'Wait. Grey hair, grey eyes, glass shoes...'

Amelia immediately straightened up. "You're Cinderella, aren't you?"

He nodded. "I see we have a guest," he said to Otogi, shaking off her sudden presence.

The blond boy nodded. "She's the one who sent the letter I got yesterday. She'll be stayin' with us for a while, and her mother will join us once she's released from the hospital."

"I see," Cinderella replied, turning his attention back to the girl. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Fräulein. What's your name?"

She felt her heart skip a beat at the kind smile he gave her. "I-it's Amelia Wiesel Grimm."

His smile disappeared. "Grimm?" he asked, and the girl nodded.

"A second descendent of Grimm? Hee-how is that possible?" a small donkey with wings and a curled dog tail asked in a male voice, startling Amelia slightly.

"Are you from a fairytale, too?" she asked, lifting the creature into her arms.

He nodded and seemed to smile. "Can mew guess who I am?"

'Let's see,' she began to think. 'A donkey with a dog's tail, wings, and it can meow. Four animals: a donkey, a dog, a cat, and some kind of bird…'

"You're the Bremen Town Musicians," she finally answered, grinning widely when he nodded at her response. She then hugged him tightly. "I never thought you'd be this cute!"

After she loosened her hold on him, he spoke again. "I just go by Bremen, though. It's a lot shoooorter, and I like it better."

Amelia nodded, looking at the last two residents of the house.

One was a blond man wearing a studded eyepatch over his right eye. He wore a white tank top covering the top half of his chest, a black stripe going across the bottom, revealing six-pack abs. He also wore combat pants and boots. Dog tags hung around his neck, a studded bracelet wrapped around his right upper arm by his shoulder, black fingerless leather gloves sat on his hands, and a black wolf tattoo trailed from the bottom of his stomach to the collar of his neck. He had two holsters at his waist containing guns, both guns bearing a chain with a silver wolf head at the bottom of the handle. The most prominent thing about him, though, was the red sleeveless coat with a hood.

'Red Riding Hood,' Amelia realized.

The other was a girl, only slightly older than her. Her clothes looked similar to what a ballerina would wear, and she had a large, striped bow hanging just above her bangs on the right side of her head, two strands of beads, two long feathers, and a length of what appeared to be ruffled lace protruding from it. Around her neck was what looked like a thick fur collar usually found on a winter coat. The most noticeable thing about her was the four long golden lengths of woven hair almost reaching her ankles.

'She must be Rapunzel,' Amelia figured, not fully sure if she was correct or not.

"The letter Grimm received yesterday makes sense now. AWG stands for her initials," Red said, and then asked to no one in particular, "So she's a Grimm too?" He received a nod from her, Otogi, Hiyori, Sorimachi, and Snow.

"Is she able to use the Grimoire to seal away Märchen demons, too, then?" Rapunzel asked.

"She should be," Bremen said, still being held in Amelia's arms.

"Wait, slow down. What are you talking about?" Amelia asked. "Grimoire…? Märchen demons…? What are those?"

Everyone looked at each other before returning their attention to the clearly confused girl.

"Sorry, Amelia," Otogi said. "We need to remember that you don't know anythin' about what's goin' on here."

"It would be best if she was shown to her room first so she can get settled in and change into more comfortable clothes before we explain everything," Cinderella suggested, picking up her luggage and carrying it upstairs to an empty room.

Amelia set Bremen on the floor and trailed behind Cinderella, fighting the blush she could feel rising to her cheeks. Halfway down one of the halls, she realized something and rushed to his side, grabbing one of the bags in his hands. He looked down at her in mild confusion.

"I want to carry this one," she explained. "It has something important in it and I don't want it to break."

Cinderella nodded and let go of the bag once the girl had a good grip on it. They continued the rest of the way silently, the only sound being their footsteps treading down the hallway. Soon, the two reached her room. Cinderella set her luggage just inside the room and allowed Amelia inside.

"Come downstairs to the dining room when you're ready," Cinderella said, smiling before leaving Amelia to her business.

She stood there for a moment, taking in the room. It was obviously meant for a female resident, the wooden furniture bearing many carved floral designs. The walls were a soft cream color and the floor was polished oak, making the room have a comfortable aura to it. There was a single bed made of maple pressed against one wall, light pink covers and pillows on it and a cherry petal-designed top suspended a few feet over the bed by wooden posts. There were two windows that lead to a balcony facing the front of the house, and an oak wardrobe stood between them. A nightstand stood on one side of the head of the bed, and a small couch with two florally-designed pillows sat at the end. An old desk stood in one corner of the room, along with a chair, opposite the windows, the only other pieces of furniture in the room.

Slowly, Amelia took a deep breath and released a quiet sigh. She closed the door to the room and reached into the bag she'd carried, pulling out a small dagger. She slowly inspected it before stashing it back into the deepest recesses of the bag, being careful not to accidentally rip the documents the bag contained, and shoving bag under her bed.

()()()()

"This is a lot to take in," Amelia said, rubbing her temples from the headache that was slowly forming as Bremen sat in her lap.

She had changed from her school uniform into a plain white tank top and denim blue jeans. She still had her hair up in a ponytail, which seemed to be normal for her due to how long it was.

Most of the Märchen demons living with Otogi had explained their stories to her. The only exceptions were Snow White, who had told her his story in the hospital, and Cinderella, who refused to speak one word about it. They also showed her the Grimoire, told her what it did, and explained that only a descendant of Grimm could use it to seal Märchen demons, or at least partially seal them like with Snow White, Red Riding Hood, and Bremen.

There was also the matter of the curses put on Red and Otogi, both showing her their marks from the curses. Red's was the black wolf mark stretching from his stomach to his collar, which made him turn into a werewolf during a full moon. He explained that it was negated and bound due to partially being sealed by the Grimoire. Otogi's, on the other hand, was still active. The mark on him was a thorny, black vine wrapping around his neck and trailing down his chest to where it twisted around the image of a heart. Through the center of the heart was the image of what looked like a dagger or sword. The curse on him made it so that someone could stop his heart at any moment they wished, but he didn't say who or how. The mark of the curse was faded, but it was still there.

"Also," Sorimachi began, "if you ever meet a man named Nekota Yozo, try to avoid him. He's the Märchen demon Puss in Boots, and he's trouble."

Amelia giggled. "I'm not surprised at that. The Japanese word for cat, neko, is literally in his name. And I can tell Puss in Boots would be trouble because he's often portrayed as a cunning trickster."

"So, changing the subject, how are you related to Grimm-sama?" Rapunzel asked. "I mean, you both have the same last name, so it would be safe to assume you two are related somehow."

Amelia nodded. "Otogi-kun and I are cousins. Our fathers are brothers, but that's all I know. Honestly, I don't even know who my father is. He was never around when I was younger, so I haven't met him before. When I ask my mother about him, she changes the subject. I've tried to dig around for information, but my searches always come up empty."

The group looked at each other, obviously debating whether or not to tell her what they knew, but they seemed to decide against it. At least for now.

"We'll tell you about him later, Amelia-san," Cinderella said. "For now, you should get some rest. I'm sure you had a long day today."


	4. Märchen IV: Puss in Boots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Dictatorial Grimoire.

"So, what's the story behind Cinderella?" Amelia asked Otogi as the two of them, Hiyori, and Sorimachi walked to school.

It had been a week since she had moved into the Grimm household, and she would often answer questions about herself whenever the Märchen demons, Otogi, Hiyori, or Sorimachi thought of something to ask her. They all now knew why her mother was in the hospital, along with where she used to live before she moved to Japan, what her school life was like while bearing the name 'Grimm', and many other things. There were questions she would give a vague answer to, but she promised those would be revealed when the time was right.

She had rarely asked anything about them in return after her first day there, though, so her question was slightly unexpected. Of course, this was one that hadn't been answered when she was told about the stories behind the Märchen demons currently living with Otogi, so it wasn't too surprising.

"The story behind Cinderella?" he echoed, and Amelia nodded.

"He won't tell me. I keep trying to ask him, but he always shrugs it off like I never even said anything."

He hesitated. "Well, a long time ago, Cinderella served a girl who lived near the castle…"

Otogi went on to explain the vision he had while being put into an enchanted sleep under his curse, with some information he'd missed being added by Hiyori and Sorimachi due to Red telling them what he knew. Apparently, Red had been a personal guard for a certain king when Cinderella's story had transpired.

Cinderella had been a poor beggar out on the streets when he met the real Cinderella. She had treated him badly at first, dumping a bucket of water on his head, calling him filthy, and saying she had nothing to give him. The townsfolk around the two started making fun of her, calling her the "Ash Princess" and saying she deserved everything she got, or rather didn't get, because of her parents bleeding them dry with taxes. After Cinderella showed the girl kindness by trying to save her reputation from being further soiled, the Ash Princess took him home and had him work as a sort of protector for her- a knight.

Many years later, the Ash Princess became engaged to the king due to a promise her father had made with him, where the king would take her as his bride once she came of age. Cinderella congratulated her, heartbroken at the thought of losing her, only for her to tell him she loved him. She suggested the two of them run away together, but Cinderella, acting against his heart, declined the offer, explaining that all he wanted from her was to see her happy.

Not long after, though, Puss in Boots, in the form of a cat, went to the king and told him about the Ash Princess's love for Cinderella, who was still her servant at the time. The king had her burned at the stake in jealousy, and Cinderella could only watch, held back by the guards, as the Ash Princess died in the flames, the townsfolk watching and laughing.

Once the flames had died down, Cinderella knelt at the ashes and promised to avenge the Ash Princess, hate for everyone, himself most of all, consuming his soul. He became a masochist because of that, punishing himself and wanting Otogi to punish him when the blond boy became the owner of the Grimm household.

"But none of that was his fault, though," Amelia said. "All of that was out of his control. He shouldn't punish himself for something like that."

"He thinks it was his fault, though," Sorimachi stated. "He believes he was the reason the Ash Princess was killed."

'He's acting as "Cinderella" in her place,' Amelia realized. 'Is that why he didn't want to tell me?… I wonder what would happen if I talk to him about it.'

She was broken out of her thoughts as a female voice shouted out behind the group, "Hiyori! Wait up!"

All four of them turned to see two girls running up to them. One was a brunette with short brown hair that barely reached her chin, her bangs woven into a braid and pulled to the right side of her face to be hooked behind her ear. The other was a blonde with long hair pulled into two curled pigtails, her bangs just hanging above her eyes. They were both wearing school uniforms, but Amelia hadn't seen them in school before. Of course, she'd only been there about week.

"Mori-san! Kirishima-san!" Hiyori called out, waving to the pair as they caught up with the group. "Where were you guys? You haven't been in school all week!"

"We were sick all week, so we couldn't come to school! Sorry!" The blonde shouted.

The brunette next to her looked at her. "Michiru-chan, you're yelling," she said softly.

"I am not yelling!" the blonde responded, still shouting. She then noticed Amelia. "Who is she?"

Amelia smiled. "I'm Amelia Wiesel Grimm, Otogi-kun's cousin, and I just transferred here from America a week ago."

The duo smiled.

"I'm Kirishima Haruka," the brunette said. "It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Mori Michiru!" the blonde said, almost defensively.

"Michiru-chan, you sound angry," Kirishima stated kindly.

"I'm not angry!" Mori exclaimed.

The group then started chatting among themselves as they walked to school, something about how Mori and Kirishima can't cook and they got sick by eating bad curry like what they made when they had to clean up the beach a while ago.

()()()()

Amelia walked to the hospital by herself after school, explaining to Otogi, Hiyori, and Sorimachi that she wanted to spend some time with her mother alone.

"Bonjour, Mademoiselle," a male voice in a French accent called out behind her, causing her to stop walking and turn around to see who was talking to her.

She looked around, but didn't see another person nearby. The only living creature she could see was a large, dark-furred cat with light fur on its hind legs and around its eyes, almost like it was wearing socks and glasses. A little bell on its collar tinkled softly as the creature walked up to her.

"Where did you come from, kitty? Are you lost?" she asked, petting the small creature as it seemed to smile up at her.

"Non, I am not lost," it said in the male voice, causing Amelia to withdraw her hand quickly, a small gasp escaping her lips.

In a puff of smoke and butterflies, the cat transformed into a man. He wore a tropical shirt under what seemed to be a woven coat, a matching hat rimmed with beads sitting on his head, along with light-colored pants and what seemed to be boots made of a mixture of leather and snake-skin. He had a thin goatee and his dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail of dreadlocks, held together by a hair tie with two strands of beads hanging off of it, one feather at the end of each strand. He had on a pair of sunglasses that looked like they had cat ears on them, and a dreamcatcher hung around his neck from a chain of beads. He had eight earrings, three thick rings in the cartilage and one ball earring in the lobe of each ear, and three rings adorned his hands, one on the index and middle finger of his left hand and one on the index finger of his right hand.

Amelia gaped up at him. "Who are you?" she asked.

The man smiled. "Moi, I am Nekota Yozo," he said, handing her a business card that said where he worked and what he was in the company.

'Nekota Yozo…So he's the Märchen demon Puss in Boots Sorimachi was telling me about?'

She looked at the business card again. "Huh, so you're a music producer and a Märchen demon, Nekota-san? Or should I call you Puss in Boots, since you didn't hide the fact?"

He clapped, seemingly in delight. "Bravo! I knew there was something special about you, Mademoiselle Grimm! Oui, c'est moi! I am Puss in Boots!" He gave an extravagant bow, catching Amelia off guard.

'What is with this guy?' she asked herself, turning to leave and make her way to the hospital. Before she could walk off, though, a hand gripped her shoulder, preventing her from running off.

"Excusez! Pourquoi? Why are you leaving so soon? Is there something you don't want moi to know?" He smirked. "You do, pour vous have a secret you don't want to share."

The girl turned to face him, keeping her expression blank despite the whirlwind of panic she was feeling inside herself. 'He's bluffing,' she tried to convince herself. 'He couldn't possibly know about it.'

"Everyone has a secret," she replied calmly.

Nekota smiled. "Ah, but you have a very special one. One zat will decide the fate of Monsieur Hero, Grimm, non?"

Amelia visibly stiffened, making Puss grin in a cat-like manner. Her shock soon turned to suspicion as she glared at the man. "How do you know about that? And how do you know who I am?"

He shrugged in a calm way that irked the girl to no end. "Rumors spread fast."

She scowled. "Like the one you told to the king about Cinderella and the Ash Princess?"

Nekota let out a short laugh. "Even if I hadn't said un mot, the king would have found out because the court loves a rumor, n'est-ce pas? Humans, they are so stupid, non? So easily tricked by mere words!"

Noticing Amelia's scowl deepen, he added, "Don't you agree? You, who are deceiving toujours so-called friends even as we speak?"

At that question, the girl lost the energy to glower at him, and she cast her eyes down in shame. What he said was true, and she knew it.

"What do you want from me?" Amelia asked, not daring to look up at the man.

"Moi? Nothing really. I am merely here to help you with your decision."

The girl instantly looked up at Nekota, her glare coming back full force. "And just why do you think I need any help with this?" she questioned defensively. "Do you think you can alter my choices?"

"Ah, but Mademoiselle, I can! Life is a series of choices! Everyone wants to choose the best path! But c'est un mystère! I can act as your producer, to lead you down the right path." As he said the last sentence, a bit of the sun shined behind his sunglasses into one of his eyes, revealing a cat-like eye through the dark lens.

A shudder rippled throughout Amelia's body at the look he was giving her, a voice inside her head screaming at her to get away from him as fast as possible. She inaudibly gulped and tried to keep her voice from shaking as she spoke.

"I'm sorry, but I don't need your help with this. I'll be fine on my own." Taking a few steps so that she was right next to Puss, she said in a more confident tone, "Now if you'll excuse me, I really should get going. I'm meeting up with someone today, and I mustn't keep them waiting."

With that, she walked past him, and he didn't stop her this time. Once she was a good distance away, though, the man's voice rang in her ears once more. "Hey, Mademoiselle Grimm. You sure you made the right choice?"

Amelia looked back in the direction of where the voice came from, planning on asking what he meant by that, but no one was there anymore. All that was left to tell of Puss in Boots' presence was the few butterflies fluttering away in the breeze. A bit unnerved, she turned in the direction of the hospital and sprinted to the entrance as fast as she could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was so hard to get Puss in Boots' accent right! I had to use the manga for references, and you've probably noticed I used actual lines from the manga. I apologize to any of you who think I'm ripping off the manga, but I'm not trying to get credit for something that's not mine. I'm trying to give the credit to the original creators of the story because I'm referencing the events and lines used in it.


	5. Märchen V: An Unexpected Loss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Dictatorial Grimoire.

"Hey, Cinderella?" Amelia called out to the silver-haired Märchen demon in the living room once she arrived at the mansion after her visit with her mother at the hospital. She was desperate to talk to someone about her encounter with Puss in Boots, and Cinderella seemed to be the best choice since she already wanted to talk to him.

The others seemed to be busy anyway. Red was in the kitchen making coffee for everyone, Snow was in his room working on various poisons, and Otogi, Hiyori, and Sorimachi were in the dining room working on homework, Rapunzel clinging to Otogi while Bremen sat in Hiyori's lap as the two females bickered.

"Yes, Amelia?" Cinderella asked, stopping his cleaning and turning to her. He'd often do that whenever she wanted to talk to him, and everyone thought it was odd because he usually never stopped cleaning, even when someone wanted to speak with him.

"There's something I wanted to talk to you abo-" She was interrupted when her cell phone began blaring its ringtone, catching the attention of all the residents of the household.

That was the first time it had rang since the girl moved into the mansion, so no one knew she had it until now.

She answered it quickly, not recognizing the number on the phone's caller ID display. "Hello?" she asked, not noticing the other residents enter the room.

There was a long pause from her, and then her eyes widened slightly. "What? No, that's impossible! I was just talking to her not too long ago, and she was fine!"

There was another long pause. "Yes, I understand. I'll be there soon," she said.

Amelia turned to the others, becoming aware of everyone's presence in the room.

"I'm sorry, but I need to go to the hospital," the girl apologized, bowing to the people around her.

"Why?" Otogi asked, causing her to straighten up.

She bowed her head, wringing her hands together. "My mother was just sent to the operating room because she started having problems, and I want to make sure she's okay."

That was all that needed to be said for Snow, and he answered her request before anyone else could, leaning on Otogi with one arm resting on the blond's head. "Go ahead, Amelia. Do what you need to and take as much time as you need."

Amelia nodded gratefully. "Thank you for understanding." With that, she raced out of the mansion and towards the hospital, running as fast as her legs could carry her.

Once they knew she was out of hearing range, everyone looked at Snow.

"What was that all about?" Otogi questioned as he removed the raven's arm from his head. "Why did you say that? It's so unlike you."

Snow sighed. "You know how we met her mother at the hospital?" he asked, and Otogi nodded. "Well, after that, while we were still inside the building, she told me she blames herself for the condition her mother is in. She believes it's her fault that there were complications when she was born. I can only imagine how much she's hurting from that, since she loves her mother dearly."

"That doesn't seem like it would be her fault, though," Cinderella stated. "She had no control over what happened when she was born. There's nothing she could have done to prevent it."

The others looked at each other for a few moments before Red spoke. "Maybe you should go talk to her. She definitely needs the support right now, and you'd likely be the best person for the job."

The silver-haired male was surprised at Red's suggestion. "Why would you think I'm the best person to comfort her?" he asked.

"Well, if you think about it," Rapunzel began, still clinging to Otogi, "she was attracted to you first when we all met her."

"Plus, from what I've seen over the past week," Sorimachi added, "she looks up to you the most. She's even followed you around like a puppy on more than one occasion."

Cinderella couldn't say that wasn't true, though Amelia's following him around was mainly due to her curiosity about his past- his story. At least, that's what he assumed. Even so, he noticed a sort of…attraction between them that had formed since the day they met. Maybe he could at least help comfort her, even if he couldn't do anything else to help.

He nodded. "I'll go to the hospital and see if she's alright."

()()()()

As Cinderella entered the waiting area outside of the operating room, he noticed Amelia sitting on a couch meant for two at the farthest end of the room from him, right next to the set of doors leading to the operating room. There was no one else there besides the two, and the girl didn't seem to notice his presence as her eyes were locked on the glowing red light above the doors next to her that told if the operation was still going or not.

A few seconds later, the red light turned off, and Amelia jumped to her feet as a woman in a blue smock and head cover walked out, her surgical mask hanging around her neck. Amelia looked at her, mouth set in a thin line, hope and worry evident in her eyes, but the woman shook her head sadly.

Cinderella didn't have to guess what that meant when Amelia bowed her head and sat on the couch again, burying her face in her hands as her elbows rested on her knees. The woman patted her shoulder twice in a comforting gesture before walking out, passing by Cinderella without even so much as a glance in his direction.

After a moment, he walked over to Amelia and sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and causing her to look up at him. Her golden eyes were slightly red and puffy, tears making a mad dash down her cheeks as she found herself unable to stop crying in front of the silver-haired Märchen demon. Cinderella gently pulled the girl closer until she was forced to lean on him, rubbing her arm soothingly. She buried her face in his chest in an attempt to stifle the sobs that wracked her body and forced their way past her lips, her hands tightly gripping his overcoat as if he was her only lifeline.

"I'm sorry," was all he said before the two were engulfed in silence again, the only sound being Amelia's sniffles and hiccups as she slowly forced herself to calm down. Eventually, she managed to get her breathing back to normal. Even so, she didn't pull away from Cinderella's embrace.

"Why? Why did this have to happen?" Amelia asked, her voice slightly muffled by the man's coat. There was a long pause between the two, Cinderella unsure of what to say, before she continued. "This is all my fault. If there hadn't been any problems when I was born, none of this would have happened. Mom wouldn't have needed to be in the hospital in the first place, and she would still be here."

Cinderella's grip tightened on her. "It's not your fault," he whispered into her ear.

"B-but-" she started, only for Cinderella to cut her off.

"This was something you couldn't control. You shouldn't blame yourself for that."

It was then that his words sank into both of their minds, ringing with a truth they hadn't realized about themselves. Both blamed themselves for something that was out of their control. Both punished themselves for it, Amelia mentally and Cinderella physically and mentally.

Both sat pondering this thought before Amelia broke the silence once more with a question that caught Cinderella slightly off guard. "You loved the Ash Princess, didn't you?"

Cinderella pulled back from the embrace he still had around the girl to look at her. He could see a mix of sadness and curiosity swirling in her golden eyes.

"H-how do you know about that?" he asked, clearly confused from the unexpected inquiry. He'd never told her his story.

"Otogi-kun, Sorimachi-kun, and Hiyori-san told me about what happened. You loved her, didn't you?" Amelia asked again.

Cinderella bowed his head and nodded. "Yes, I did."

"Did you ever fall in love after that?" the girl questioned. "I mean, were you able to move on after everything that happened to you?"

The silver-haired Märchen demon thought about this for a while. Throughout the centuries, he'd never really taken such an action into consideration. He never believed he'd be able to move past the Ash Princess's death and open his heart to anyone ever again. It seemed impossible to him.

But he knew something within him had changed. Because of Otogi and his friends, he'd become more open with other people, and the thought of falling in love again became more plausible.

As he gazed at the girl next to him, he knew what his answer to her question was.

Cinderella smiled. "Yes, I have," he answered, pulling Amelia close to him again.

They were surrounded in silence once more, but it was obvious to Amelia that Cinderella was thinking about something.

"Do you think my mistress, the Ash Princess, would have wanted me to turn out the way I did?" he asked suddenly.

The girl turned her head to look at him. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Because of her death, I came to hate everyone, myself most of all. I became a masochist and a failed knight."

Amelia shook her head. "That's likely the last thing she wanted to happen to you. From what I was told, she loved you with all her heart. She'd wish for your happiness, not your punishment for something that was out of your control."

Cinderella nodded. Both sat in an easy silence after that, neither wanting to move. Amelia rested her head on Cinderella's shoulder as he moved a hand up to run through her hair comfortingly, both basking in the others presence.

()()()()

Back at the mansion, Bremen wandered into Amelia's room to get away from the constant bickering that occurred between Hiyori and Rapunzel over Otogi and Snow and Red over Snow's "pets" running around loose. He was about to lie down on the couch at the foot of her bed, when a dark lump mostly hidden in the shadows under the bed caught his attention.

"What's this?" he asked himself out loud, mewing a tiny bit as he spoke.


	6. Märchen VI: Turn of Events

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Dictatorial Grimoire.

Amelia and Cinderella returned to the mansion the next morning, both incredibly tired from the long night before. Neither had gotten much sleep after Amelia discussed with the doctors what to do with her mother's body.

It was decided that her mother would be cremated and sent back to America to be buried by her family. Amelia wasn't going back, though. She didn't want to go through the pain of being given more condolences by people she hadn't seen in so long, barely knew, or didn't remember. It would only make the reality of the situation all the more unbearable for her.

As the two entered the building, the sight of the rest of the residents, plus Sorimachi and Hiyori, in the room by the front door stopped them. The group turned to the pair, and Amelia's eyes widened as she saw the bag she'd hidden under her bed in one of Otogi's hands, her dagger in the other.

"What's this?" Otogi asked, holding out the dagger in the palm of his hand.

Amelia inaudibly gulped.

Sorimachi came over to the blond and lifted it out of his hand. "It almost looks like the dagger Wilhelm used to curse Grimm-kun," he stated, inspecting the bladed weapon carefully before looking up at Amelia accusingly and handing it back to Otogi.

"H-how did you find that?" she asked, stuttering slightly.

Snow spoke up, clearly not pleased. "Bremen found the bag under your bed and brought it to us. We found the knife hidden at the bottom of it under a bunch of papers."

"I-I can explain," Amelia said, only to be cut off by Otogi as he shoved the bag and dagger into her arms roughly, both somehow avoiding getting cut by the metallic blade of the weapon.

"Don't even bother," he said coldly, turning away from her and walking out of the room.

Cinderella could only watch as the scene played out, reminding him of what happened right before the curse related to the dagger was put on the blond. Wilhelm had revealed part of Cinderella's secret to the blond Grimm boy, the secret of what happened to the Ash Princess, and Otogi had treated Cinderella in a very similar way.

The others followed the boy out, leaving only Amelia and Cinderella standing in the room.

"I didn't want him to find out like this," the silver-haired Märchen demon heard Amelia say to herself, her tone laced with regret and her head bowed.

"Is that really the dagger that was used to curse Grimm?" he questioned, looking at the blade the girl held in her hand. There must have been more to it than what he or any of the others thought.

She nodded, not turning to him or looking up. "From what I was told, yes, it is. But I had no idea it would cause this much trouble."

"Why do you even have it? You haven't used it to stop his heart yet, so that's obviously not your intention. There must be something more that you're not telling any of us."

Amelia sighed and glanced at him through the corner of her eye. "It's a long story," she said, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with him.

Cinderella smiled in a way that told her she didn't fully lose his trust just yet. "I've got plenty of time if you want to tell me."

The girl smiled back, but shook her head. "I want Otogi to know first, since this concerns him more than anyone else. The question is whether I can get him to listen to me and hear me out or not."

A hand landed on her shoulder, and she was turned to face the silver-haired Märchen demon. "I'm sure he will calm down enough to let you explain yourself."

"I hope so," the girl mumbled under her breath.

()()()()

Otogi still hadn't let Amelia explain herself, even after one month had passed. He would always avoid her or ignore her, and the others, with the exception of Cinderella, worked to keep her away from him.

'What do I do?' Amelia asked herself as she sat leaning her back against the door to her room to prevent anyone from trying to get in. She was inspecting the dagger once more, a nervous habit she had developed within the first week after her cousin stopped talking to her.

She held the weapon up to the light coming in from the windows, letting the rays reflect off of the shiny silver metal and onto the wall across from her.

'Why did I keep this a secret from him? Why didn't I tell him right away?'

She knew the answer, of course.

If she had told him about it initially, he would have likely changed how he acted around her. At least, how he acted before Bremen found her bag with the dagger inside and informed him about it.

But what she didn't know was why she kept it a secret for so long. What was she trying to do? Was she trying to prolong the inevitable choice she'd have to make so there wouldn't be as much pressure on her? Or was she hoping she'd be able to hide her secret from the others for the rest of her life? Puss in Boots' words from before rang in her mind. 'You sure you made the right choice?'

Amelia sighed, using the blade of the dagger to bend the light so it would shine into any dark corner of the room she chose. The light soon landed at the underside of her bed, and she saw her bag lying there in the same spot she'd kept it all the time she'd stayed in the mansion. The bag that Bremen had seen, giving away her secret to the rest of the household.

Slowly, she stood up and walked over to the bed, reaching under it and pulling out her bag. After a moment of hesitation, she sat down on her bed and dumped the contents out onto the covers before stashing the dagger back in the bag.

Letters and envelopes littered the bed, along with a few pieces of notebook paper covered in different notes. Some of the papers were extremely wrinkled, while others were yellowed with age.

She picked up the two typed out letters she'd received before moving to live with Otogi and read through both. There was something about these two letters that bothered her.

'Wait, they only saw the dagger!' Amelia realized. 'They probably didn't bother to read any of the papers! If I can just get Otogi to read these two letters, he might understand!'

Amelia shoved the rest of the papers into the bag and raced out of her room with her bag and the two letters in hand. She knew her idea was farfetched, but it was likely her only shot at earning her cousin's trust again, and everyone else's too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't noticed, this is more of a filler. To be honest, I was struggling a bit with this chapter, so please bear with me on this.


	7. Märchen VII: Jacob's Letters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Dictatorial Grimoire.

"Otogi!" Amelia called once she caught sight of the blond standing in the living room with Sorimachi and Hiyori.

The trio turned to look at her, but then began ignoring her again as they headed for the front door. There was no school today, so they must have been planning to go somewhere else. Amelia huffed and hurried her pace to catch up with them before they could leave.

"Where do you think you're going?" Red asked as he caught her by the back of her shirt collar.

Snow and Rapunzel were suddenly in front of her, blocking her path to get to her cousin.

Amelia huffed and pulled against Red's grip on her shirt, managing to make the fabric slip through his fingers, and pushed past Snow and Rapunzel before any of the three could stop her.

"What's with all the commotion?" Cinderella asked as he and Bremen entered the room, only to fall silent as he watched the scene before him.

"Otogi!" she said sternly, grabbing his arm tightly with her free hand. "Just listen to me!"

He tried to break out of her grip, but she didn't relent in the slightest. Eventually, he sighed in frustration and turned on her, startling her slightly.

"Why?" he asked, venom dripping from his voice. "Why should I listen to you? You're the daughter of the man who tried to kill me just for fun, and you have the dagger that can end my life! Why should I listen to you when you can kill me at any second?"

There was a moment of silence between the two, Amelia thinking carefully on what she wanted to say so it wouldn't upset the blond further.

She sighed. "Don't you think I would have ended your life already if that's what I wanted?" she asked, loud enough for everyone within the household to hear.

She let that question sink into the group's minds before she continued on.

"I've been here for over a month now, and that would have been more than enough time for me to kill you with that dagger if I actually desired to. I know there's a seal connected to the blade that if stabbed through with the dagger will stop your heart, I've even seen the seal by accidentally activating it, but doing that is the last thing I want. I have no reason to wish for your death."

Otogi's gaze softened at her words, but so many questions buzzed around in his head.

"If you don't want to kill me, then why do you have that dagger?" the blond questioned. "Why are you here?"

Amelia let go of Otogi's arm, knowing he wouldn't fight her anymore, and handed him the two letters she held in her hand.

"These are the letters I received before I moved here," she explained as he scanned through the typed words. Thankfully, one side of each letter was Japanese and the other was English, so he wouldn't have too much of a problem reading them.

Sorimachi examined the papers carefully. "They're both made of the same stationary as the letter your father sent you," he said to Otogi, handing the two documents back to him. "It's the same paper from that university. Same mark at the bottom and everything."

"Do you think my father sent her these letters?" the blond asked.

Cinderella spoke up, coming to stand behind Amelia and placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's hard to tell. We don't know if either of the Grimm brothers died in the fire, so it is possible one of them if not both survived."

Amelia stared at them, not sure what they were talking about but not questioning it.

Hiyori spoke up. "Well, what do the letters say?"

Snow walked over to Otogi and took the letters out of his hand.

"The first one's anonymous," he said.

Amelia nodded. "Go ahead and read it out loud."

Snow scanned through the letter.

"Dear Amelia Wiesel Grimm,

You likely don't know me, but I know you. I know you are a descendant of the brothers Grimm, your mother is ill, and you have grown up without your father's presence. So I have a small request for you and your mother that I wish to be carried out not too long from now.

I'd like you to move to Japan to live and go to school with another descendant of Grimm who is exactly one month older than you. His name is Otogi, and he is living in the company of many people that can be called friends, maybe even a family of sorts, in a large mansion given to him by his father.

The box this letter is attached to contains a special dagger, one that will decide the boy's fate. When you arrive at the mansion, I wish for you to judge him based on his personality and decide whether or not he should continue to live. I have written instructions for you to follow on a paper inside the box with the dagger.

Good luck, Amelia."

A silence filled the room once Snow was done reading the letter. Eventually, Rapunzel spoke, being the one to break the awkward silence.

"That letter's a bit too vague," she said, saying what many of them were thinking. "Just sending that to Amelia-san and not giving her any more specific information? That's not enough to make her want to come here."

Amelia nodded in agreement. "That's what my mom and I were thinking when I first received that letter. We were actually about to just forget the whole matter until we got the second letter. That one went into more detail, though, and gave me a better impression on how vital it was for me to move here and make this decision."

Red took the second letter from Snow and began reading it to the group.

"Dear Amelia,

I apologize if my last letter from a week ago left you with more questions than answers. I even failed to inform you who I am. I'm writing to you now to clear everything up.

The dagger I sent you can only be wielded by a person within the Grimm bloodline, and it will only work under certain conditions. I am unable to go into too much detail about these conditions, but I am able to tell you that this dagger contains magical properties to which these conditions apply. You will learn about these soon, but you likely already have a good idea about it if you've read the instructions I sent to you with the dagger.

The Grimm boy you are to decide the fate of, Otogi, is your cousin and my son, and it is vital that you are the one to decide his fate since you've never met him before and have no initial opinion of him.

Your father, my brother, attempted to stop his heart using the dagger I sent you just for entertainment, but I only allowed my brother to get as far as putting a curse on Otogi. I fear the curse has not lifted yet, so I leave this important choice to you if it hasn't.

I know this is a lot to ask for someone as young as you, and I sincerely apologize for any trouble this may cause, but it is important that the judgement is made by an unbiased opinion that comes from the same bloodline as my son.

I hope you will make the right choice, my dearest niece. His life is in your hands.

Uncle Jacob"

"So my father left you in charge of whether I live or die?" Otogi asked.

Amelia bowed her head. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I just thought that if I didn't do anything about it, it wouldn't matter."

"At least that answers our questions," Snow replied as one of his pets, a tiger snake from the looks of it, slithered up his body and came to rest on his shoulders.

Bremen chirped in agreement with Snow as Amelia lifted him into her arms. "Sorry for hee-how we acted and treated you before, Amewlia."

The girl smiled. "No hard feelings. But…why would my father curse you just for entertainment?" she asked Otogi, her smile fading as quickly as it had appeared. "Who is my father, anyway, and what's he like?"

The group looked at each other.

"You don't want to meet him," Sorimachi responded. "Trust me, he's bad news."

Cinderella gently squeezed the shoulder his hand still rested on, drawing her attention to him. "We'll explain everything."

Red nodded in agreement. "Let's go sit in the living room to talk. You were dragged into this mess, too, so you should be informed about what's going on."


	8. Märchen VIII: A Spell Book and a Secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Dictatorial Grimoire.

As the group sat down on the couches in the living room, Bremen moving out of Amelia's arms to sit on Hiyori's lap across from her, Amelia's bag accidentally slipped from her fingers and landed on the floor roughly, its contents spilling out. A large majority of the papers within the bag slid out, the dagger on top of the pile.

"Oops," the girl said as she began to pick up the papers, placing the dagger on the couch between her and Otogi, but stopped when something caught her eye.

A hint of brown drew her attention, nearly fully hidden in one of the inside pockets of the bag. Only the corner of some sort of box stuck out, likely having been knocked loose from its hiding place due to the harsh landing on the ground.

Amelia tilted her head and pulled the brown object out, revealing it to be a rectangular object wrapped in brown paper. Taped to the back was an envelope, and what was written on it slightly shocked the girl.

"Amelia Grimm"

It was in her mother's handwriting.

"What is it?" Rapunzel asked, peering over Amelia's shoulder from where she stood, her arms draped around Otogi's neck.

"I'm not sure," Amelia replied, removing the envelope and tearing off the brown paper. The object within the brown wrapping turned out to be a book very similar to the Grimoire. It was thinner, though, and smaller in size. The cover had some sort of seal designed on it, the same seal she'd seen when she'd accidentally activated the dagger before. Curious, she opened the book and skimmed through some of the pages, her eyes widening as she realized what the contents were.

"It's some sort of spell book by the looks of it," Cinderella said, standing behind Amelia and reaching an arm out to take it from her hands. Instead, the girl closed the book and set it near the dagger, turning her attention to the envelope and ripping it open.

Inside were two papers, handwritten messages on both sides of one document and one side of the other. They were written in English, the words in a looping cursive that was typical of Amelia's mother. She began to read aloud, noticing the questioning looks on everyone's faces and knowing fully well they were wondering what was written on the letters.

"My dearest Wilhelm,

I have written this letter over and over many times, but I'm still not fully sure how to say this.

The truth is, I'm pregnant with your child.

I know this news is unexpected, but I feel you should know what has been happening since you left for Japan a few weeks ago.

I had not discovered this until a week after you left, five months after our honeymoon, when I began to feel ill and was driven to the hospital by a neighbor and close friend. The doctors have verified this fact, even giving me the images from the ultrasound, and have informed me the child is a baby girl.

I hope you will be able to meet her once she's born, but until then I can only send you letters about what's going on.

I hope to see you again soon, Wilhelm.

Your wife, Elena"

"So your father knows you exist, but he's focused his attention on Gririri for whatever reason," Sorimachi said, jumping to this conclusion. "Do you think it's because he was born first, considering your birthdays are one month apart?"

"That's impossible, though," Hiyori interjected. "The letter was never sent out."

"And even if he did know, he couldn't have known who was going to be born first," Snow added.

As this discussion went on, Amelia examined the message on the back of the paper.

"Guys, there's more here," Amelia interrupted.

"Read it, please," Cinderella replied as everyone became quiet.

"I have been enlightened as to the true character of my husband.

Five years ago, before I had the chance to send the message on the other side of this document, my brother-in-law Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm came to me and informed me of the plan he was forced to create unwillingly with his brother. A plan that would surely ruin the future of his only son Otogi, who lives in Japan with his mother, just because his brother wants entertainment.

He told me of the agreement he and my husband made with the Märchen demon Cinderella about two hundred years ago, where Cinderella must protect Otogi and a book known as the Grimoire if he wants to defeat the other Märchen but eat the young Grimm's soul if the boy refuses. Jacob also spoke to me about the plan where, if it came to the latter, the Märchen demon Puss in Boots would provide a replacement for the young boy.

I was shocked and outraged at my husband due to this revelation, but my main concern now is for my darling five-year-old daughter Amelia Wiesel Grimm. I fear that if Wilhelm gets wind of the news about Amelia, he will come after her just as he's going after his nephew.

Jacob gave me the phone number for his wife, Shiori, along with a special book I am to give Amelia when the time is right.

I have attempted to contact Shiori only once using the phone number Jacob gave me, but at the mention of our husbands, she became frantic. I didn't have the heart to tell her I was married to her son's uncle, for I was afraid I would not only put her and her son in more danger but put Amelia in danger as well.

I know my daughter will ask about her father someday, and she'll dig into trying to find information about him, but I hope she will come to understand that I'm only trying to protect her. She is my pride and joy, and I can't afford to lose her just because of some sick whim my husband has.

Jacob is the only Grimm who knows of the existence of my daughter, and I would be more than willing to trust him with her life if I had to. Unlike my husband, I have found him to be an honest man who was just forced into a bad position.

I have arranged with him that if something were to happen where the fate of our two children are put on the line, we would find a way for the two to meet and work together to overcome these obstacles. I can only hope that the two will become good friends when they do meet, if the need ever arises."

A silence filled the room, soon broken as Amelia shook her head in disbelief.

"Now I know why my mom didn't want me to dig too deep into trying to find out who my father is," she said, finally understanding why her mother never told her about her father. "She was just trying to protect me from him…"

After a long pause, Otogi began to speak. "Did you know my father?" the blond asked Amelia. "I mean, have you ever met him before?"

The girl shook her head. "I can't say I have. Sorry. The only thing I know about Uncle Jacob is what my mom told me about him. She always thought highly of him, so I know he's not a bad person. She never told me about you or your mother, though."

She glanced down at the letters again as the others began to talk among themselves and noticed the one on the second sheet of paper was directly addressing her. It was dated for a few days before she and her mother had moved to Japan.

'My beloved daughter Amelia,

I'm so sorry for everything I've put you through. I never told you about your father or how horrible of a man he truly is. I always avoided the subject whenever you asked, and it's hurt me every time because I always leave you with more questions than answers. I've left you in the dark about this for so long, and you deserve to know what's going on. That's why I've also enclosed the second letter with this. It will tell you about what is going on and why I haven't told you anything, if you haven't already read it.

Your uncle Jacob and I didn't plan for things to end up this way. We never wanted to put the pressure of controlling your cousin's fate in your hands. We never wanted to give you the responsibility of controlling whether he lives or dies. But the circumstances called for something to be done by a force outside of what he was familiar with. You were the only Grimm descendant within the bloodline who had no initial opinion of him. Your uncle and I believed this would give both of you a better chance of making the right choices.

I'm giving you the spell book enclosed in the brown paper as a way to protect yourself. It belongs to the brothers Grimm, your father and uncle, and was given to me by your uncle Jacob so I could hand it down to you since Otogi would still likely be in control of the Grimoire. The spell book contains every spell, curse, and technique the brothers have collected and learned over the centuries.

I'm sorry for putting all this pressure on you, especially when I might not even be around anymore. You are the bravest girl I know for putting up with all of this. I just want you to know that, no matter what happens, you are not alone.

If you do choose to let Otogi live, please take care of and watch out for each other. This is all I wish for you two, and I know Jacob would want the same.

I'm proud of you, Amelia. Never forget that. And I know you will make the right choice when it comes to deciding the fate of your cousin.

Good luck, my precious daughter.

Mom'

A crash sounded behind Amelia, drawing the group's attention as their conversations instantly died down.

Cinderella was on his knees on the floor by the wall, the spell book open cover up on the floor in front of him and a small three-legged table behind the couch near the wall overturned just next to him. A glass vase holding vibrant orange tiger lilies that had once rested on the table was now shattered on the ground, glass shards, water, and flowers littering the floor.

"Cinderella?" Amelia asked, becoming concerned when he didn't answer.

The girl then noticed the silver-haired Märchen demon was shuddering and trembling violently, a hand covering his mouth as if he was trying to keep himself from vomiting. Even with his head bowed, she could still see the shock and horror in his eyes.

"Cinderella, are you alright?!" She questioned, many of the residents, including her, getting up from where they sat in alarm at the way the man was currently acting.


	9. Märchen IX: Training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Dictatorial Grimoire.

"Cinderella, come on, talk to us," Amelia said, kneeling next to him and gently grabbing the arm of the hand covering his mouth. "What's going on?"

As she tried to calm the older male, Otogi lifted the spell book as Red attempted to clean up the mess from the vase so no one would get cut on the glass shards as they approached where Cinderella was.

The blond Grimm scanned the pages the book was opened to, and his eyes widened. He turned to Amelia, showing her the pages.

"It's a technique to read other people's memories," he stated, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"You mean like the one that the Grimm brothers used in the "agreement" they made with Cinderella two hundred years ago?" Sorimachi asked, taking the book from the Grimm boy and examining the pages himself as Hiyori, Bremen, who was being held in Hiyori's arms, Snow, and Rapunzel peered over his shoulder to get a glance at it too.

Cinderella nodded, finally calming down enough to move his hand away from his mouth and speak again. "It's the exact same one. The one they used to create my page in the Grimoire and trap me inside the hearth until Grimm claimed the mansion as his."

"But I ripped up your page!" Otogi shouted. "I shredded the Cinderella page! The agreement's not here to bind you to the book anymore! The technique shouldn't work on you, right?"

"Not necessarily," Amelia interrupted. "If the technique is performed on him again, the Cinderella page you're talking about could be recreated and the "agreement" may come into effect once more, or a new "agreement" could be created in its place."

"How would we prevent that from happening?" Hiyori asked, tightening her grip on Bremen and causing the creature to squirm in discomfort.

Amelia stood up, taking her spell book back from Sorimachi as Cinderella stood as well, and an idea came to her. "Since the spell book was entrusted to me by Uncle Jacob, I can make sure that doesn't happen."

"And if your father's alive and tries to create the Cinderella page again?" Snow asked skeptically.

"Hee-haw has a point," Bremen agreed. "If your father comes back and tries to seal Cinderella away again, we wouldn't be able to stop him too easily."

Amelia thought about this, flipping through the spell book without actually reading it. She immediately closed it with a snap. "If I can master the contents of this book, I might be able to counter whatever he tries if he does come back. This is supposed to be all of the spells, curses, and techniques the brothers have become skilled at, so if I can learn how to use them, there's a good chance I'll be able to keep him from doing anything to harm us."

Red soon spoke up, Cinderella taking his place with cleaning up what was left of the mess from the vase.

"Do you have any experience with fighting, just in case you can't learn the spells in time?" he asked the girl.

Amelia nodded. "I have some experience in self-defense. Before my mom and I moved here, I was in a karate and tae-kwon-doe class, so I at least know the basics of hand-to-hand combat. I was also a member of a kendo dojo for a while and took some fencing lessons, so I know my way around swords too."

Red nodded. "Good. That will help you if you find yourself in any trouble where a spell can't benefit you."

Cinderella stood up as he finished cleaning up the small mess he made, slightly bowing respectively as he spoke up. "I might be of use in furthering your knowledge around swords, Amelia-san."

The girl nodded in agreement as he straightened up again. "I want to at least learn some of the basic spells beforehand, though. There's no guarantee I'll have enough time to learn all of them before something happens."

()()()()

The clangs of metal hitting metal filled the mansion as Amelia battled both Cinderella and Otogi during sword training. Her cousin wasn't that hard to fend off, since he had no more skill than her, but Cinderella was a different story. He was obviously well-trained in the art of swordsmanship, demonstrating his skill not only by defeating her or coming close to defeating her multiple times but also instructing her in ways she can use her height, small size, and the skills she already had to her advantage.

The thin swords they were using were familiar to her, since she often used blades of similar size and shape during her previous fencing lessons in America. The main difference was that these were heavier and thicker than she was used to and the tips didn't have any protection to avoid unwanted injuries.

"Oof!" the girl exhaled sharply with the sudden impact of her back against the wall as Cinderella yet again overpowered her.

"You still need to learn how to use your petite stature to your advantage," the silver-haired Märchen demon commented as he approached her and lifted her sword, which had slipped from her hand and landed a few feet away, into his free hand.

Amelia slowly stood, using the wall for support while fighting off a grimace as her spine protested her movements. "You don't like to go easy against opponents, do you?" she asked, a smirk apparent in her voice.

Cinderella shook his head, a small smile gracing his lips. "When it comes to training, I'm not one to hold back."

"He didn't go easy on me when I started, either," the blond Grimm said, panting slightly.

The older male looked between the two exhausted teens and sighed. "I think that's enough training for today," he stated.

The two relatives nodded as Cinderella sheathed his own sword in the scabbard at his hip and placed their swords back in the sword and shield set on the nearby wall where he had acquired them from. Otogi was the first to leave the room while Amelia opened her bag, lying on a nearby couch, and retrieved her spell book and the dagger, sliding the dagger into a sheath at her hip hooked to a belt loop of her jeans. She had made a habit of keeping the dagger near her at all times so no one else would try to use it. Before Amelia could follow her cousin out of the room, the silver-haired man called her over.

"I wish to speak with you," he said as the girl approached him, book in hand.

"What is it?" she responded.

He paused for a moment, seeming hesitant. "Throughout the centuries, I have hated the Märchen demons, yet you and Grimm have shown kindness to them that I still do not fully understand. Grimm refuses to completely seal them, whittling away at his powers and keeping them at his side. I can tell you're like that, too, working to make them allies instead of something you can use to your advantage in a fight. Why is that?"

Amelia took a moment to absorb the information the older being had given her, thinking the question over.

"Having allies IS something we can use to our advantage. I think Otogi-kun understands this. The Märchen demons, including you, are powerful allies with unique stories that can and have proven to be helpful. In my opinion, just sealing away the Märchen without any regard for their stories, as if they don't matter, is an unforgivable crime against them."

Cinderella smiled at what the brunette said, placing his hand on top of her head and lightly stroking her hair. "Grimm said something similar to me long before you came here, when Sorimachi-kun was working for Puss in Boots."

The mention of Puss in Boots' name caused Amelia to flinch, and the Märchen demon in front of her noticed.

"Is something wrong?" he questioned.

Slowly, the girl nodded. "I met Puss in Boots before my mom died. He told me he knew about my secret, and the way he said it made it clear he was talking about the dagger. He also said he could help me make a decision on what to do with it."

"What did you do when he confronted you on it?" Cinderella asked, obviously not pleased with this revelation.

Amelia shrugged. "I just gave him an excuse so I could ditch him. Being around him gave me a bad feeling, and I wanted to leave right away. Right before he disappeared, though, he asked if I was sure I made the right choice."

She paused for a long while, thinking something over, before heading for the room's exit. "I really should get rid of Otogi-kun's curse as soon as possible. Then no one will be able to try and alter my decision."

The sound of some sort of cat ringtone started blaring as the girl entered the room where Otogi and everyone else either sat on the couches or stood talking, followed closely by Cinderella.

Amelia watched as the blond boy pulled out a white phone with cat ears on top of the covering, similar to the glasses Nekota had been wearing when she met him. The silver-haired Märchen demon was suddenly behind the male Grimm and took the phone from him, looking at the screen momentarily.

"It's an email with a video attached from Puss," he spoke, glancing over at the golden-eyed girl who was quickly approaching him.

Otogi looked up at the older male. "But he hasn't contacted us since he first told us about the Anti-Grimm Force Jäger."

"Anti-Grimm Force Jäger?" Amelia asked as she sat down between Otogi and Sorimachi on the couch in front of Cinderella.

The others nodded.

"They're a team of Märchen demons that the Grimm brothers, namely your father Wilhelm, created to stop Gririri from using the Grimoire," Sorimachi explained. "Red used to be a part of it, but when Gririri partially sealed him and cancelled out his curse, he joined our side. Now Jäger is just made up of Puss in Boots, Hansel and Gretel, and a female version of Bluebeard."

"What does Puss want this time, though?" Otogi asked.

"We will find out soon," Cinderella answered as he set the phone to play the video, holding it to where the group could see the phone's screen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the hiatus on my story. I was really swamped with trying to finish semester finals until winter break.


	10. Märchen X: Behind the Scenes

Puss in Boots came up on the screen, a cat-like grin plastered on his face.

"Bonjour! How are you? I see Mademoiselle Grimm has not ended your life with ze dagger connected to your curse yet, Monsieur Hero. Did you know about that? Haha! Well if you didn't, now you do!"

The two Grimms exchanged glances, both knowing Puss was attempting to make Otogi mistrust Amelia again.

"I've got a message for vous, Mademoiselle Grimm, from your father. He knows you are here, living with toujours cousin and the many Märchen the boy has befriended. He's been watching you all this time, waiting for you to make your choice on the prince's fate. Of course, you've likely already guessed it was moi who told him, non?"

Amelia flinched at his words, her eyes widening and a wave of fear filling her entire being. 'He knows I'm here? He's been watching me?'

"Your father has been saying for some time now that he wants to meet vous in person, face-to-face, at the old school building. He wants to meet you tomorrow night, though you must come alone. What do you say, young princess? We'll be waiting for your answer."

The video ended abruptly after Puss' last statement and an awkward silence filled the room, no one sure what to say.

After a few moments, Hiyori spoke up, hugging Bremen tightly. "So are you going to meet him?"

Amelia thought the question over for a while. Eventually, she sighed.

"I have no idea what I'm going to do. I do want to meet him, to have my questions about him answered, but..."

She stopped, unable to think of what she wanted to say. So many emotions flitted through her mind that she had trouble grasping how she actually felt about all of this. Happiness, sadness, frustration, relief, anger, fear, they all buzzed around in her head, overwhelming her.

"Were you going to say, "but I like the way things are right now"?" Cinderella asked as he turned off the phone and handed it back to the blond Grimm.

Amelia nodded. "A part of me wants to meet my father, to know if he really is a bad person or not. But a greater part of me wants to never see him, no matter what. I have a family here, one that cares about me. I don't want to just give that up."

"And you don't have to," Snow spoke up from his seat on the couch across from her.

The silver-haired Märchen demon placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder, causing her to look up at him.

He smiled kindly at her, as if to calm her nerves. "We'll go with you to the old school building, if you decide that's what you want. You don't have to do this alone."

Everyone voiced their agreements with his statement, and the gesture touched the Grimm girl. In response, she smiled and nodded, thankful to have become a part of such a great family.

"Thank you. You don't know how grateful I am."

()()()()

Unknown to the group, a familiar in the shape of an eyeball with bat wings hovered close to a nearby window, watching the group before flying away to a castle in a secluded part of town.

"Hmmm…" a male voice hummed. "So the daughter Elena has tried so hard to hide from me has found friends in my nephew and the lowly Märchen demons living with him. I wonder what would happen if unexpected tragedy strikes the group…"

Puss in Boots came to stand behind the chair the unknown male sat on. "What do we do if ze girl decides to bring them with her when she tries to meet vous, Wilhelm?"

The man Puss was talking to stood up, turning to face the cat-based Märchen demon. He looked almost exactly like Otogi, same blond hair and green eyes, same build. The main difference between the two was the look-alike's choice of attire. He wore a black long-sleeved jacket over a white button-up shirt and a black tie with an emblem clipped to the knot, a black cape with golden rope on the front holding it in place, black shorts, and black boots. A thick belt was wrapped around his waist above the jacket, an empty dagger sheath clipped on the left side, and a strap hooked just above the sheath was wrapped around his right shoulder under the cape. On top of his head was a black hat with golden rope around the brim and the same emblem as the tie above it. The emblem was shaped in a 'G' with a crown above an open book, a thorny, vine-like arc connecting the sides of the crown to the book. White bandages were bound around his throat, covering the wound Cinderella had given him so long ago.

He laughed, a somewhat innocent yet devious look plastered on his face. "We simply separate her from the others. Then I'll be able to make a deal with her that she has no choice but to accept."

"And if she refuses?" Puss questioned.

Wilhelm smirked at him. "I'll explain that once she's in our presence. I'll give you the hint, though, that you or one of the other members of Jäger will get something you've been craving for a long while."

Nekota smiled at that, getting a good idea of what the younger Grimm brother meant.

"Hansel! Gretel!" Wilhelm called out.

"Heeere!" they replied, popping up out of thin air.

The two looked very similar to one another. They had the same height, same eye color, same hair color, even similar hair styles. The only difference between their looks besides their clothes was that Gretel's hair was long and woven into two braids, clipped to look like two loops on either side of her head.

Gretel's clothes were a puffy long-sleeved dress with a strawberry design around the edges near three layers of frills. Her sleeves were much larger than they needed to be, hanging limply around her thin arms, and had lace trimming at the ends. She had on a lacy apron with four buttons along the part covering her upper torso, two on the left side and two on the right, and an ascot hung loosely around her neck. Her cap had frills along the edges, and sweets of different kinds were stuck onto its left side.

Hansel's clothes were a short-sleeved shirt with six buttons, three on the left side and three on the right, and a pair of matching shorts. A sort of apron was tied around his waist, hanging over the front of his shorts, and an ascot similar to Gretel's hung loosely around his neck. His cap, which was the same as Gretel's except without frills, had different sweets than Gretel's stuck to the right side.

"Bluebeard!" Wilhelm continued.

"Right here," she replied, coming to stand right behind the two children.

Her long blue hair was set into four thick curls, her bangs flipped outwards on the right side of her face. Two roses rested in her hair above her left ear, and a sort of pirate hat sat on her head. A white jacket with black lace along the seams and a floral design in a vertical stripe along the sleeves reaching the lower part of her ribs rested above a strapless, shape-conforming shirt with the same floral design as the stripes on the jacket. The shirt had lace stitched to the neckline, and a lock with a keyhole was hooked to the middle of the neckline and rested between two lines of black lace running vertically along the front. Her pants were similar to the jacket, but instead of the black lace there were frills along the bottom in a rose pattern. She wore dark leggings and black high heels, along with a cloth belt wrapped around her waist bearing tassels at the end. A whip was connected to a holster wrapped around her right thigh, and a white lacy choker holding a key hung around her neck.

Wilhelm smirked. "There's something I need you three and Puss in Boots to be ready for tomorrow. Puss will explain the plan to you. I have other things to deal with right now."

The Märchen demons nodded and left as he sat down again, passing by a male hidden in the shadows. Once they were gone, he came out from his spot and approached Wilhelm.

His blond hair was wavy and reached just slightly below his chin. He had on a coat falling to his knees over a white button-up shirt, concealing all but the neck and partial chest portion of a dark turtleneck. He had dark dress pants on underneath the coat, along with dark shoes. The bags under his eyes gave the impression that he was much older, appearance-wise anyway, than Wilhelm.

"Why are you constantly trying to torture these people, Wilhelm?" he asked. "Why do you take pleasure in such acts? Especially against your own family?"

The younger Grimm brother turned to look at the man standing behind him and grinned.

"Why, you ask, brother?" he said mockingly. "That's simple. I'm doing all this because it's entertaining!"

The younger man stood up once more and turned to face his brother, his grin growing in a menacing way.

"But there's one thing I can't allow anymore. I can't let you interfere with my plans again. I was so close to getting my revenge on that blasted Märchen who did this to me," he pointed to the bandages at his throat, "and then you stepped in and stopped me before I had a chance to have my fun with him by ending the Grimm boy's life."

Wilhelm stepped closer to Jacob and lowered the neck of his turtleneck to expose the mark of the curse on him, the same curse Otogi had.

"You have no choice but to comply with my demands, brother," he hissed, referring to the mark on Jacob's throat. "You have to work for me, whether you like it or not."

The two stood there in silence before Jacob moved away from his brother and walked away.

He took one last glance back at the scene between Otogi, Amelia, their friends, and the Märchen demons living with them.

'Otogi, Amelia, be careful.'


	11. Märchen XI: Kidnapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Dictatorial Grimoire.

"That's it?" Amelia asked as she clutched her spell book tight to her chest, looking at the rundown building in front of her and the group tagging along with her.

Snow nodded. "That's the one."

The structure had obviously seen better days. Mold covered parts of the roof, shingles were missing, windows were smashed in, the siding needed work, and Amelia doubted the old clock on top was able to work. Crows sat in the dead trees surrounding the building, giving the entire scene an eerie feel to it as they flitted from branch to branch and cawed every once in a while.

As they entered, Amelia noticed that the inside was much different than the outside. The interior was more like what one would find inside a castle or a grand cathedral, with high stone walls and long glass windows. Only, the building was much darker than she expected and dust covered just about everything, causing her to sneeze whenever the particles were stirred up into the air.

"Why does this place look so different from the outside than it does from the inside?" Amelia couldn't help but ask. She placed the palm of her hand in a slightly nervous manner against the hilt of the sword she'd brought, sheathed in a scabbard on the opposite side of her hips from the dagger.

She and Otogi had brought the swords they'd trained with, along with their books just in case something went wrong and they needed to use the items.

"The laws of physics do not apply here," Cinderella answered.

Snow nodded in agreement. "Before I was partially sealed in the Grimoire, this used to be my territory. It didn't look as bad as this, though."

The sound of something soft padding against the tile floor caught Amelia's attention, followed by a loud squeak and more things padding against the ground. The group turned to see many gigantic mice coming into the room, towering over them, and none of them had time to draw their weapons to defend themselves.

"Not again!" Hiyori shouted, shoulder throwing each one that came close to her.

"It's Puss in Boots!" Otogi shouted, trying to fend off the mice coming too close to him for his liking.

The blond's words caught Amelia's attention, and in her moment of vulnerability, she didn't notice what was forming behind her.

"'Allo, Mademoiselle," Nekota's voice rang out from behind her, and the female Grimm turned her head just enough to see a cat-like smile shine from the wall. "Vous, over here!"

Before she had any time to react, the mouth opened, showing two rows of sharp teeth that terrified her, and half a dozen mice dragged her into the gaping jaws. Darkness enveloped her as the mouth closed and disappeared from the wall.

When the mice around the rest of the group began to scatter, everyone noticed Amelia was missing.

"Oh no!" Hiyori exclaimed. "Where's Amelia-san?!"

"This is bad," Sorimachi said. "Who knows what Wilhelm or Puss in Boots will do to her?"

"We have to find her," Cinderella stated, drawing his sword.

The others nodded, beginning their search for the brunette Grimm.

()()()()

Amelia opened her eyes with a small gasp, trying to place her location as she slowly sat up. She was in some sort of dungeon or torture chamber, by the looks of it. Bars covered the windows, empty shackles dangled limp from the walls, a set of bloody knives hung near a flight of stone stairs, and torture devices of many kinds filled the room.

She was sitting on a straw mat in the center of the room from the looks of it, and she did a quick check of her supplies to make sure nothing was missing. Her spell book was still clutched tightly to her chest, the dagger connected to Otogi's curse was still sheathed at her hip, and the sword she had brought was still in the scabbard connected to her other hip.

"So, you're awake," a male voice almost exactly like Otogi's said behind Amelia, causing her to jump to her feet and whirl around to face whoever this person was.

Her eyes widened, and she backed away slightly. This person looked almost exactly like the blond Grimm boy, only the bandages around his neck and clothes giving away that he wasn't her cousin. The male smiled at her, sending a shiver up her spine and giving her an incredibly bad feeling.

"Heh, you almost look exactly like your mother, only her hair was darker, frizzier, and not as long," he stated, grabbing her chin roughly. "It's nice to finally meet you, Amelia Wiesel Grimm."

"Wh-who are you?" she asked, hating the stutter than entered her voice.

The blond male's smile widened. "You don't know who I am? I'm your father, Wilhelm Carl Grimm."

Amelia's eyes widened. 'No. No no no no no, this can't be happening!'

Wilhelm continued on, the Märchen demons working for him surrounding the two.

"I have a little…deal I want to make with you. Since you're so intent on guarding that dagger you have with you, my dagger, I will let you go unharmed in exchange for stopping your cousin's heart with the curse put on him."

"And if I refuse?" Amelia questioned, pulling herself away from her supposed father's grip.

His smile turned menacing, and she instantly regretted asking.

"It's simple, really," Wilhelm started, pleased with his daughter's discomfort. "If you refuse to comply with my request, I'll let one of these four take your heart and consume your soul. I'm sure someone like you will be able to slake their craving for decades."

Laughter arose from the Märchen around the two, and Bluebeard was the first to speak.

"This girl's pretty cute," she stated, cupping one of the Grimm girl's cheeks in her palm only for the brunette to roughly pull away. "Feisty, too. I'll definitely have some fun with her before I cut out her heart."

"Pervert," Hansel and Gretel said in unison, an almost sing-song tone in their voices.

"Now, now," Nekota interjected, cutting off their rants. "We can only do that if ze girl refuses Wilhelm's offer, non?"

The blond Grimm nodded, never taking his eyes off of his daughter. He glanced down slightly to her folded arms and caught sight of the book in her hands.

"What's this?" he asked, reaching out to take the spell book from her.

She quickly pulled away from him before he could touch her or the book, tightening her grip on it.

"It's none of your business," she replied, causing Wilhelm to frown slightly.

"So what do you say, Mademoiselle?" Puss asked, attempting to break the tension between the two Grimms. "Do you accept the deal?"

Amelia was speechless. She didn't want to agree to either side of the deal.

'If I agree to their deal, I have to end Otogi's life and have everyone I've come to care about hate me for the rest of mine. If I don't agree, Otogi gets to live but I'll end up having my heart literally ripped out and eaten by one of these creeps.'

The girl opened her mouth, still unsure about what she was going to do. She wasn't going to willingly stop her cousin's heart, she knew that much. Before she could say anything, though, glass poured into the room, the shards leaving small cuts in their wake and nearly blinding the group.

"Amelia! Get out of there!" Cinderella's voice sounded, and the brunette Grimm tried to move towards the direction his voice was coming from.

"Oh no, you don't!" Wilhelm said as he grabbed her arm and pulled the girl back, dragging her somewhere deeper in the castle. "Hansel! Gretel! Bluebeard! Puss! Take care of these intruders!"

"Yes, sir!" the four Märchen demons all cried in unison.

"Trick or treat!" Hansel and Gretel called, a fire forming between the two as they worked in tandem and effectively stopped the glass rain when the flames licked at Cinderella's body.

"Cinderella!" Amelia called, trying to turn around and help her friends when she saw Hansel and Gretel's attack come close to hitting the silver-haired Märchen demon, but Wilhelm wouldn't let his grip on the girl's arm relent.

"You're not going anywhere, young princess," the older Grimm responded, letting out a soft laugh.


	12. Märchen XII: Meeting Jacob

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Dictatorial Grimoire.

Cinderella watched as Wilhelm dragged Amelia away, a knot forming in his stomach. The girl was in for something big, he just knew it.

"Grimm, Cinderella, Bremen, we'll handle these Märchen like last time," Red announced. "You three go ahead and help Amelia."

The three nodded and went in the direction Wilhelm had disappeared with the brunette Grimm. Snow and Red faced off with Hansel and Gretel while Hiyori, Rapunzel, and Sorimachi were pinned against Bluebeard and Puss in Boots. The group was ready for team Jäger this time, though.

()()()()

'How could I let this happen?' Amelia asked herself, her head bowed in shame. 'How could I let myself fall for his trap?'

Wilhelm had taken the girl to the farthest tower in the building from where the others were, and tied her up using a spell that caused thorny vines fused to the floor to wrap around her limbs and prevent her from moving. He had removed the spell book and dagger from her possession, along with the sword she had brought along with her just in case.

A set of footsteps echoed through the room as someone entered, but the Grimm girl refused to look up. She did note, though, that the footsteps sounded heavier than Wilhelm's, so she knew it wasn't her father.

"Amelia?" an unfamiliar male voice called, causing her to look up at the man in front of her.

Amelia stared up at the person, stunned. He had wavy blond hair reaching just slightly below his chin, wore a coat and white button-up shirt mostly covering a dark turtleneck, and had bags under his eyes. She knew she'd never seen this man before in her life, and yet there was something familiar about him.

She was surprised at the sudden forceful hug the man gave her, unsure of how to react. Then it suddenly clicked.

"Uncle Jacob?" she asked.

He nodded, confirming her suspicion. He pulled away, looking down at her, his eyes filled with what looked like relief and pride.

"You've grown, Amelia. The last time I saw you, you were only a few months old."

This caught the brunette Grimm off guard.

"So we have met before?" she asked as Jacob carefully removed the thorn-covered vines from her limbs so as not to harm her.

He nodded, an almost depressed aura forming around him.

"You were too young to remember, though. Not being there for you or my son when either of you needed me, that's my worst regret, but there was nothing I could do about it."

"Why not?" Amelia questioned as her uncle pulled the last of the vines away from her. "If you wanted to be there for us so badly, why weren't you?"

Jacob gazed at her for a moment before sighing. Slowly, he lowered his turtleneck until it revealed a mark around his neck. A black mark resembling a thorny vine that was startlingly similar to Otogi's.

"I've always done what my brother said. But falling in love with Shiori and fathering Otogi, along with helping your mother to protect you from my brother…those were the only things I ever chose myself."

Amelia bowed her head, now understanding what her mother meant when she called Jacob an honest man forced into a bad position. After a moment, she looked back up at him.

"So, this mark…" she began, lightly touching the mark on the man's throat.

He nodded. "It allows my brother to stop my heart at any time he wishes, just like the one he put on Otogi."

"Amelia!" Otogi and Cinderella's voices called out as the two, along with Bremen, entered the room she and Jacob were located in.

The trio paused for a moment, and then Otogi ran over and hugged the man standing next to his cousin.

"Father!" he yelled, overjoyed.

"Otogi," Jacob replied softly, hugging his son back tightly.

Cinderella came to stand next to Amelia as the scene before them played out. After a moment, the silver-haired Märchen demon, without warning, pulled the girl into an unexpected embrace, causing her cheeks to heat up.

"Are you alright?" he asked, pulling away and placing a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him.

She nodded. "I'm fine, but Wilhelm got ahold of the spell book and dagger and took away my sword."

Jacob looked over at the two and released his hold on his son.

"I have your spell book," he stated, pulling said book out from the depths of his coat and handing it to the brunette Grimm. "It was the only thing I managed to grab from my brother."

"What about the dagger?" Otogi asked, a hint of fear lacing his voice.

The elder Grimm shook his head. "Knowing my brother, he won't do anything yet. He wants to turn anything into a form of entertainment for himself, and just killing someone out of nowhere without seeing their expression isn't what he thinks of as fun."

"So we have to get that dagger back before he decides to do anything with it," Amelia realized.

Jacob nodded. "I'll help you get it back. I do not want him to cause any more harm to any more people than what he's already done."

"But what about your curse?" the girl asked. "What if he stops your heart before you can do anything to help us?"

The elder Grimm brother looked down at her, a sad glimmer in his eyes. "Then so be it. I've spent so many centuries forced to follow my brother's orders. Helping you is the least I can do, and if he stops my heart, I'll be able to join Shiori once more."

Otogi and Amelia exchanged glances. Reluctantly, they agreed with his idea. They needed all the help they could get to secure the dagger back from Wilhelm so he couldn't stop the Grimm boy's heart, and if Jacob was willing to help them despite his curse, then they'd accept it.

()()()()

Wilhelm held up the dagger to the light, inspecting it to make sure there was no damage done to either its physical or magical properties. He had to admit that his daughter had kept it well-maintained, even though he knew she had little knowledge of the magic the blade contained.

"Oh, if only she knew how much trouble this dagger is causing," he mused to himself as he sat on a throne in a round room with swords embedded in a circle behind him, a smile crossing his features. "Not only for herself, but also for those around her, including me."

His smile widened at the last sentence, especially as he heard footsteps quickly approaching his location. The footsteps stopped behind him, and he stood up and turned around to face the small group that stood unknowingly in the middle of the circle of swords.

"Guten abend. I've been waiting for you," he said, more pleased by their arrival than he likely should have been. He noticed the group not only consisted of Cinderella, Otogi, Bremen, and Amelia, but also his brother Jacob.

Wilhelm lifted his hand, and seals formed on the swords surrounding the group. An inferno rose from the seals and wound around them, focusing mostly on Cinderella. The younger Grimm brother couldn't hold back his laughter at the scene as the beings before him disappeared from his sight and into the flames, seemingly being consumed by the blaze.

His laughter was cut short, though, as the flames appeared to begin extinguishing themselves, dying down until there were barely any sparks left.

"What?" he called out in disbelief, frowning as he began to realize what was going on.

Amelia stood in front of the group facing the younger Grimm brother, her spell book in one hand open to one of the pages and her free hand extended to the side. She had performed a counter spell that negated the curse assigned to the swords, covering the seals with ice.

Wilhelm glared at the girl. "You will pay for your insolence."

He held up dagger the connected to Otogi's curse, activating the seal and preparing to make the final blow that would end the Grimm boy's life.


	13. Märchen XIII: The Final Spell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Dictatorial Grimoire.

Before Wilhelm could penetrate the seal with the dagger, he was felled by a spray of glass shards, four large slabs piercing through his sleeves and the pant legs of his shorts, pinning him to the ground. The knife was knocked a few feet away from his grip, and Otogi lunged for it, scooping the blade up and rushing back to the group once it was in his grip.

"What the…?" Amelia started, staring at the large pieces of glass her father struggled to free himself from.

"I have the ability to manipulate glass," Cinderella answered her unfinished question, lightly gripping her shoulder. "Each Märchen demon has their own unique ability. You'll learn more about that later. Also, each Märchen demon has a weakness. Mine is-"

"Fire," the girl finished for him. "I kinda figured that out on my own, from how you like to stay away from the kitchen and how Hansel and Gretel's attack stopped you. I was introduced to the concept due to what Snow White told me before about his little mirror problem."

Otogi handed the dagger to Amelia, listening in on what the two were talking about.

"Yeah," he replied to his cousin's assumptions. "Their abilities are related to their actual stories instead of the ones written by the brothers. It's the same with their weaknesses, too."

The two glanced at Jacob, who nodded and confirmed their hypotheses.

"This is touching and all, but isn't there something we should be doing?" Wilhelm's voice piped up, drawing the attention of the group.

He was up on his feet again, small gashes in the fabric of his jacket along the sleeves and the fabric of his shorts along the pant legs. In his hand was a dagger similar to the one in Amelia's possession, but hers was sheathed at her hip once more.

'That's the blade connected to Uncle Jacob's curse!' she realized.

"I can't have you interrupting my plans anymore, brother!" Wilhelm continued, activating the seal on the dagger.

Cinderella rushed forward at him, sword drawn, in an effort to stop him. The younger Grimm brother sidestepped the attack, though.

As Amelia moved towards the two fighting figures in an attempt to help the silver-haired Märchen demon, the floor where the group stood caved in, dragging Otogi, Jacob, and Bremen down with it while the girl just barely escaped the fall.

She turned around to check on them, slightly panicked.

"Are you three alright?" she asked, carefully kneeling at the edge of the hole so as not to fall in too.

"Yeah," her cousin answered, clambering to where the girl could see him better. It was a mess down where they were, debris lining the ground below the hole. She could see Jacob slowly standing up, slightly injured from the impact, and one of Bremen's wings was caught under some of the rubble, but other than that and some scratches and bruises, they looked fine.

Otogi tossed up his sword to the brunette, seeing as she still didn't have hers. "Go help Cinderella. We'll get out of here once we get Bremen's wing free."

Amelia nodded and turned around, drawing the sword so she could help Cinderella.

"You lowly Märchen demon!" Wilhelm shouted as he distanced himself from the tip of the silver-haired man's blade.

A devious smile crossed the blond's face as he stabbed the seal without another thought, the symbol shattering as the blade struck it. He then used a technique that caused a seal similar to what was on the dagger form on the ground and spin rapidly, thorn-covered vines and long lines of words extending from the black abyss in the center of the figure and knocking Amelia onto her back a few feet away, the sword from one hand and the book from the other flying even farther. The vines quickly wrapped around Cinderella's wrists and knees, forcing him down onto his knees and pulling his hands far behind his head in a painful manner.

Cinderella struggled against the vines, knowing perfectly well what Wilhelm was planning as the blond came to stand in front of him.

"Do not think I can't recreate your page, Cinderella, the ash-covered knight!" the younger Grimm brother said sadistically. "There is no hero coming to save you now!"

Amelia slowly rose as this scene played out, reaching for her spell book. She knew all too well what spell her father was using, and she also knew how to counter it.

'No hero coming to save Cinderella, huh?' she thought as she opened the book to a certain page. 'Big mistake saying that.'

As Wilhelm reached a hand out to touch Cinderella's head and recreate the Cinderella page by pulling his memories out, the vines restraining the silver-haired Märchen demon suddenly shot from his wrists to the blond's.

"Oh," the younger Grimm brother said in surprise as the vines restricting the Märchen demon's movements began limiting his movements instead.

He looked around and saw Amelia climbing to her feet, her spell book open and her free hand guiding the vines motions as they switched targets and wrapped around him. Once he was fully constrained, the girl moved to where Cinderella still sat on his hands and knees, trying to regain his composure after the close call.

"You okay?" she asked, kneeling down to his height as he looked up at her.

He nodded. "Yes. Thank you, Amelia," he replied, his voice filled with relief as he leaned back so he sat on his knees.

The Grimm girl then turned to Wilhelm and approached him, coming to stand in front of the blond.

"So the young princess is playing the hero in this story," he taunted, and then yelled as he struggled against the vines now holding him still, "Let me go, you impudent little brat!"

"I can't do that," she responded coldly, reaching out the hand not holding her book open and hovering it near his forehead. "I can't allow you to hurt any more people. You and your sick whims have already caused enough trouble more so many people. I can't allow you to continue ruining people's lives just for fun."

Without hesitation, she placed her hand to his forehead. She was overwhelmed by the streams of words pouring from his head, filling her mind with each and every one of his sick and twisted memories as a page formed into her hand. The silhouette shaded onto the page was that of a puppet master controlling two marionettes on strings.

"What are you going to do with that?" Wilhelm asked in a mocking tone, believing she had no power to do anything with the page.

"I refuse to allow you to hurt anyone else," she began, holding up his page before him.

His eyes widened as he realized this girl knew much more about the pages than he had initially anticipated.

"Wait! You don't mean…!"

"As of now, I condemn you to eternity trapped in this page, never to be released!" Amelia exclaimed, the vines beginning to pull the blond male into the page. "No one else will come to fall by your hand! No one else will be trapped in one of your plans for entertainment! No one will be forced to do your bidding ever again!"

"Wait! Stop! Noooooo!"

The last word echoed through the room as Wilhelm became fully imprisoned within the page, and then everything was engulfed in silence. The only audible sound was Amelia's panting, the incident having taken a toll on her both physically and mentally. She stood frozen for a moment before her limbs began to shake, and she fell to her knees as her legs collapsed under her, the page in her hand fluttering out of her grasp to the ground.

She felt a hand tenderly being placed on her back. Slowly, she turned to face the person behind her, only to be met with a pair of lips pressed against hers, hands placed on either side of her face to hold her still. Her eyes widened.

'He's kissing me!' the girl thought in disbelief. 'Cinderella, my crush since I first got here, is kissing me!'

Slowly, she returned the kiss, her eyes fluttering shut.

All too soon, Cinderella pulled away. Amelia opened her eyes and looked up at him. Her heart was thundering in her chest, and she swore the silver-haired Märchen demon could hear it too.

He smiled down at her, gently pressing his forehead to hers. "You did well, Amelia."

The girl smiled, glad she was able to stop her father and protect Cinderella.

"Amelia! Cinderella!" Otogi's voice shouted, concern evident in his tone. "Somethin's wrong with my dad!"


	14. Final Märchen: A Bittersweet Resolution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Dictatorial Grimoire.

Amelia and Cinderella stood and turned to where Otogi's voice was coming from, seeing a black blur as Bremen flew out of the hole in the floor and moved towards them, Otogi and Jacob on his back. The Grimm boy sat behind where his father lay on the creature's back, the older blond seemingly unconscious.

Bremen stopped just in front of the two, Otogi sliding off his back and helping his cousin and Cinderella gently set his father on the ground. The girl placed two fingers on the side of Jacob's neck just under his jaw, checking for a pulse. Nothing. The spell really did stop his heart when the seal was stabbed with the dagger.

She gazed up at her cousin, who had a hopeful look in his eyes, and sadly shook her head.

"I'm sorry. We weren't able to stop my father in time."

Otogi stared dumbfounded at her. "So, he's-?"

Amelia nodded. "He's gone. I'm sorry."

"Wilhelm stopped his heart before we could stop him," Cinderella explained, wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulders in an effort to comfort her, knowing all of this had taken a large toll on her.

"Where is hee-haw, anyway?" Bremen asked, looking around.

Amelia reached down and picked up the paper at her feet, showing it to them. Otogi took the document from her and examined it, noticing the figure of a puppet master was printed onto it.

"I locked him away in this page," she explained as he handed the page back to her, folding and stuffing the paper into one of her pockets. "Now he can't harm anyone just because he wants to."

"She used the same spell that the brothers performed when they made their "agreement" with me over two hundred years ago," the silver-haired Märchen demon added. "Wilhelm was about to recreate my page, but Amelia countered it and caused the spell to affect him instead."

The room started to shake suddenly, the hole in the floor growing larger.

'The structure of the room was weakened when the floor caved in!' the group realized at the same time.

Cinderella quickly pulled Otogi and Amelia onto Bremen's back, jumping on behind them as the creature began to beat its wings and takeoff. Moments later, the floor collapsed under them as they reached the exit, taking out part of the floor in the hallways with it.

Amelia, sandwiched between her cousin and Cinderella, sadly looked behind them at the damage triggered by everything that had transpired only a few moments ago. She replayed everything over in her head, especially the memories she had seen from her father before she sealed him away. Those were the images she lingered over the most.

She saw and heard everything through her father's point of view. She observed him cast the curse that would let him stop his elder brother's heart at any time he wished. She watched as he forced Jacob to help him form the Grimoire by creating the Märchen demons pages. She saw the two brothers create the "agreement" Cinderella was forced into over two hundred years ago. She beheld him put the same curse on Otogi as the one he cast on Jacob. She witnessed all this and everything in-between, not fully knowing how to react to the crimes he'd committed against those around him.

The girl bowed her head slightly, letting out a forced but silent exhale of air. This didn't go totally unnoticed, though.

"Are you alright?" Cinderella asked, whispering into her ear so as not to draw Otogi's or Bremen's attention to them.

Amelia remained silent, but nodded anyway. She hoped he wouldn't try to pry too deep into the subject. She really didn't want to share what she'd witnessed from her father's memories.

It seemed like he wanted to say more, but dropped the subject when their friends came into view as Bremen stopped flying and began walking towards the exit, every one of them waiting outside of the building. By that time, the inside of the building looked like what you would expect when entering after seeing the outside.

Spider webs lined almost every corner, peeling paint flaked from the walls as the slight air movement from their passing hit it, the windows were smashed in, the drapes lining said windows were battered and faded…It looked like an old school building instead of the grand palace they were met with when they first entered the structure.

()()()()

"All of that really happened?" Hiyori asked, everyone having heard Amelia's and Cinderella's accounts of what had happened between them and Wilhelm. They didn't leave out many details, though they did leave some parts vaguer than others. One of the occurrences the two did want to exclude, for now at least, was the kiss.

All of this took place after Amelia removed the curse from her cousin, which to do so she had to use the dagger while the seal was activated to draw at least a drop of his blood from the part of the mark where the image of the dagger met the image of the heart. She then destroyed the dagger so no one could use it to curse anyone again. Now the curse was completely removed from Otogi, only a small cut that would barely leave a scar remaining from where Amelia drew his blood.

The brunette Grimm nodded at Hiyori's question, stroking Bremen's head as he sat on her lap, nodding off. It had been a long day, so it wasn't surprising some of them were tired.

"So you didn't capture any of the members of team Jäger?" she asked, curious about what had happened with the others.

They shook their heads, Rapunzel speaking up when no one else did.

"They ran off before we could finish our battles."

"The brats probably realized they didn't stand a chance against us," Snow added, obviously referring more to Hansel and Gretel than Bluebeard and Puss in Boots.

Sorimachi scoffed lightly. "I didn't get a good fight with Nekota like last time when we were rescuing Cinderella. His phone rang in the middle of our match, and he disappeared saying he couldn't stay because his work was summoning him."

Amelia giggled slightly. "That's what happens when you face off with someone who has work other than battling as a Märchen demon. Especially when they're working as a music producer, like Puss in Boots is. He's likely buried in his work with his clients when he's not busy dealing with us."

She paused for a moment, thinking something over.

"Do you think he has a job as a music producer so he can keep working as Puss in Boots without anyone realizing it?"

"I wouldn't doubt it," Cinderella answered from his seat next to the girl, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer.

"Did we miss something?" Red asked, slightly smirking at the two.

At his comment, the others began to take notice of their behavior too.

"Yeah, you in love or something?" Snow asked jokingly, grinning widely at them, expecting them to retort to his words.

Instead, Amelia blushed and hid her expression in the silver-haired Märchen demon's overcoat as she felt herself begin to smile uncontrollably, said Märchen demon gently smiling down at her as she did so and drawing her even closer.

Rapunzel squealed, hugging Otogi tightly from where she stood behind him.

"They are!" she exclaimed.

"When did that happen?" Sorimachi asked.

Amelia felt her blush deepen as the others continued their teasing and questions. She got the hunch Red knew more about the two of them than the rest of the group did. Of course, he's been around Cinderella the longest from what she was told, so it shouldn't have surprised her that he caught on to their attraction quicker than the others.

After a few moments, Cinderella gingerly squeezed the brunette Grimm's shoulder, causing her to look up at him.

"I can take you up to your room, if you wish," he offered. "You must be exhausted after everything that's happened."

The girl nodded her head, grateful for the distraction as she carefully set Bremen down on the couch next to her, opposite from Cinderella, in an attempt to keep from waking him up. She prepared to stand, but before she could, she was abruptly scooped up from her spot on the couch and into Cinderella's arms.

She clutched onto the Märchen demon's overcoat as he headed for the stairs, one arm under her knees and the other around her back. She rested her head on his chest, suddenly feeling more tired than she originally thought she was.

The others had grown silent at the scene, unsure of how to take this unusual behavior from the silver-haired man. They then began to whisper quietly among themselves.

Once the two entered Amelia's room, Cinderella strolled over to her bed and sat her on it, giving her a quick peck on the lips before pressing his forehead against hers lovingly.

"I made the mistake of not telling the Ash Princess I loved her. I refuse to make that same mistake with you," he stated, making the girl smile.

With that, he left her room to rejoin the group downstairs. Once she knew the silver-haired Märchen demon was out of hearing range, Amelia flopped back on the bed and sighed happily, letting sleep take over as her exhaustion finally caught up with her. She had a good home and an even better family now. Despite all the trouble that had occurred after she arrived in Japan, she knew everything had turned out alright.


	15. Special Bonus Märchen XV: In the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Dictatorial Grimoire.

A figure stalked through the mansion in the dead of night, guided only by the hazy blue glow of the full moon in the sky filtering through the windows and the dim yellow light of a small flame flickering on an unused white candle held in a candleholder.

They arrived at a seemingly normal door, opening it with a small creak. The figure froze, their heart thundering in their chest as they looked around, afraid one of the residents had heard the small noise that sounded too loud to them. Nothing. Only silence.

The figure inaudibly let out the breath they had been holding, slipping through the door and silently closing it behind them.

They stood at the top of a small flight of stairs, the room bathed in only the dim glow from the single lit candle. They descended into the room, letting their hand trail along the metal railing as their eyes locked on the object they sought. The hearth in the basement.

Soundlessly, the figure placed the candleholder on the floor right in front of the hearth, pulling out a sheet of folded paper and opening the document. They held the page to where the candle illuminated what was printed on it. The silhouette of a puppeteer controlling two marionettes on strings.

The flickering light from the candle reflected in the almost unnaturally golden eyes of the figure and illuminated the front of their body. It revealed a young petite female wearing a lavender spaghetti strap nightgown, her long hair, as shade lighter than Hiyori's, hanging free in natural waves down to the natural curve in her spine.

She sighed, looking sadly down at the page in her hands.

"I can't allow you to hurt any of the people I've come to care about," she breathed, making sure she was silent enough so that no one else would hear her. "You know that, right? That's why I trapped you in this page, but I think we both know it's not enough."

She paused for a moment.

"I'm sorry I have to do this, but you leave me no choice. I need to make sure you never hurt anyone ever again."

The girl gingerly held one of the corners of the page above the flame from the candle, letting it slowly ignite. She watched as the fire consumed the corner before placing the paper inside the hearth.

The smell from the burning page filled the room, slowly filtering up through the chimney, and small crackling sounds from the fire was all that could be heard. The girl kept her ears open for any sign of movement inside the household, her eyes trained on the piece of paper until the flames finally turned it to ashes. Everything was silent.

She patiently waited there for many minutes until the last of the glowing embers faded to darkness, and even then she continued to linger. Her mind flashed once again through the memories she had seen before and during the creation of the page, all the crimes committed by the being trapped in the page to those around them.

Eventually, she stood up and reached for the candleholder, the previously unused candle being carried by it burned halfway down, wax dripping down the sides and hardening in the tray at the bottom. She quickly scaled the small flight of stairs leading out of the room and opened the door as silently as she could, taking one last long look at the hearth before slipping through the door and closing it soundlessly once more.

"Goodbye, father."


	16. Author's Note

If you're wondering, I am not continuing this story.

It's a shame this fandom is so small. The original story is really good, and I hope more people check it out.

For those of you wondering, the three-volume series is being sold at stores like Barnes and Noble, and not only are all three volumes out but also a complete collection book (which is what I have and used as reference for this fanfic).

Thank you for taking the time to read and possibly review my work.

~ PuppyLuv230


End file.
